2024 Best Electrical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

Ranked #27 in popularity, electrical engineering is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 19 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for electrical engineering students pursuing a master's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,849 master's degrees in electrical engineering to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Electrical Engineering School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of electrical engineering for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality ee program can vary widely even among the top schools. 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 for a Master's Degree 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 master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master'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:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on electrical engineering students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other electrical engineering students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for electrical 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 electrical engineering related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for electrical 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 Electrical 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 Electrical Engineering in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in electrical engineering.

10 Top California Schools for a Master's in EE

1

Stanford University
Stanford, CA

155 Annual Graduates

$128,556 Median Starting Salary

Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in electrical engineering. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford.

Those electrical engineering students who get their master's degree from Stanford University earn $26,664 more than the typical ee grad.

More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from Stanford University

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA

508 Annual Graduates

$108,989 Median Starting Salary

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

Master's recipients from the electrical engineering degree program at University of Southern California earn $7,097 above the standard college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from University of Southern California

3

University of California - Berkeley
Berkeley, CA

161 Annual Graduates

University of California - Berkeley is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in electrical engineering. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from University of California - Berkeley

4

University of California - Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA

189 Annual Graduates

$98,817 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in electrical engineering needs to look into University of California - Los Angeles. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the ee program report average early career earnings of $98,817.

More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

5

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, CA

211 Annual Graduates

$97,196 Median Starting Salary

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

Soon after graduation, ee master's recipients typically make around $97,196 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from University of California - San Diego

6

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

53 Annual Graduates

$94,825 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the ee program make around $94,825 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from University of California - Davis

7

University of California - Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA

55 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from University of California - Santa Barbara

8

University of California - Irvine
Irvine, CA

38 Annual Graduates

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine.More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from University of California - Irvine

9

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA

20 Annual Graduates

$104,015 Median Starting Salary

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

Master's recipients from the electrical engineering degree program at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo get $2,123 more than the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

10

San Jose State University
San Jose, CA

154 Annual Graduates

San Jose State is a fairly large public university located in the city of San Jose.More information about a master’s in electrical engineering from San Jose State University

Best Electrical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	183	192
Oregon	158	56
Nevada	105	7
Hawaii	85	13
Alaska	52	5

View All Rankings >

Electrical Engineering Related Rankings by Major

Electrical Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

EE Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering	1,723
Other Electrical Engineering	126

Most Popular Majors Related to EE

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Computer Engineering	1,115
Mechanical Engineering	984
Civil Engineering	915
Biomedical Engineering	502
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	303
Systems Engineering	278
General Engineering	261
Materials Engineering	222
Operations Research	202
Other Engineering	200

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to NASA. More about our data sources and methodologies.