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2024 Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

21 Colleges in California
2,163 Bachelor's Degrees
$64,792 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #35 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 21 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,163 bachelor's degrees in civil engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Civil Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of civil engineering for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for civil engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Civil Engineering Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Civil Eng Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Civil Engineering in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Civil Eng

1
27 Annual Graduates
$75,576 Median Starting Salary
$8,125 Median Student Debt

University of Southern California is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Those civil engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Southern California make $10,784 more than the standard civil eng student.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of Southern California

2
150 Annual Graduates
$64,244 Median Starting Salary
$16,101 Median Student Debt

University of California - Davis is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the civil eng program state that they receive average early career income of $64,244.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - Davis

3
89 Annual Graduates
$69,327 Median Starting Salary
$14,392 Median Student Debt

It is hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

Those civil engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Berkeley earn $4,535 more than the average civil eng grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - Berkeley

4
70 Annual Graduates
$62,929 Median Starting Salary
$19,444 Median Student Debt

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the civil eng program earn an average of $62,929 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

5
172 Annual Graduates
$72,381 Median Starting Salary
$20,424 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Civil Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo earn a boost of about $7,589 over the average income of civil engineering graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

6
108 Annual Graduates
$60,478 Median Starting Salary
$16,400 Median Student Debt

UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the civil eng program state that they receive average early career earnings of $60,478.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - San Diego

7
91 Annual Graduates
$62,257 Median Starting Salary
$19,700 Median Student Debt

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the civil eng program earn around $62,257 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - Irvine

8
137 Annual Graduates
$63,495 Median Starting Salary
$19,832 Median Student Debt

SDSU is a very large public university located in the city of San Diego.

After graduation, civil eng bachelor's recipients generally make about $63,495 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from San Diego State University

9
245 Annual Graduates
$67,170 Median Starting Salary
$16,500 Median Student Debt

Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public university located in the suburb of Pomona.

Bachelor's recipients from the civil engineering major at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona make $2,378 above the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

10
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
19 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Santa Clara University

Best Civil Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Civil Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 372
Oregon 185 229
Nevada 129 123
Hawaii 112 75
Alaska 75 43

View All Rankings >

One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Civil Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Civil Eng Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Civil Engineering 2,042
Structural Engineering 120
Civil Engineering 1

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 3,935
Electrical Engineering 2,496
Computer Engineering 2,137
Biomedical Engineering 1,078
Chemical Engineering 872
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 805
Industrial Engineering 408
Environmental Engineering 258
General Engineering 209
Materials Engineering 189

Notes and References

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