2024 Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California
a master's degree in
civil engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #40 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 17 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 915 master's degrees in civil engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.
What's on this page: * Our Methodology
Choosing a Great Civil Engineering School for Your Master's Degree
The civil eng master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality civil eng program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.
Average Earnings
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.
- Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to civil engineering students as compared to other majors.
- Major Demand - How many other civil engineering students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
- Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
- Student Debt - How easy is it for civil engineering to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
- Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized civil engineering related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for civil engineering students working on their master's degree.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Civil Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Civil Engineering in California
Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for civil engineering students seeking a a master's degree.
10 Top California Schools for a Master's in Civil Eng
Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in civil engineering. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
Master's recipients from the civil engineering major at Stanford University earn $2,298 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
More information about a master’s in civil engineering from Stanford University
University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in civil engineering. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.
Civil Engineering master's degree recipients from University of Southern California get an earnings boost of approximately $5,082 above the typical income of civil engineering graduates.
More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of Southern California
University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in civil engineering. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.
Master's students who receive their degree from the civil eng program make an average of $71,729 in their early career salary.
More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of California - Los Angeles
University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in civil engineering. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population.
Master's students who receive their degree from the civil eng program make an average of $74,508 in the first couple years of working.
More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of California - Berkeley
Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Those civil engineering students who get their master's degree from University of California - San Diego earn $4,978 more than the standard civil eng grad.
More information about a master’s in civil engineering from University of California - San Diego
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