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2024 Best Engineering & Applied Physics Schools in California

4 Colleges in California
91 Applied Physics Degrees Awarded
If you plan on majoring in engineering & applied physics, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #448 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Engineering & Applied Physics Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 91 degrees in engineering & applied physics during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Engineering & Applied Physics School

Best Engineering & Applied Physics Schools in California Your choice of engineering & applied physics school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Engineering & Applied Physics School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Engineering & Applied Physics Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Applied Physics
Master's Degrees in Applied Physics
Doctor's Degrees in Applied Physics

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Engineering & Applied Physics Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Engineering & Applied Physics in California

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the applied physics degree levels they offer.

Top California Schools in Applied Physics

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
5.9% Growth in Graduates

It's difficult to beat University of California - San Diego if you want to pursue a degree in engineering & applied physics. UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were approximately 17 engineering & applied physics students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in engineering & applied physics from University of California - San Diego

2
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
38.9% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Berkeley is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in engineering & applied physics. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 18 engineering & applied physics students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in engineering & applied physics from University of California - Berkeley

3
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA

Any student pursuing a degree in engineering & applied physics has to take a look at Santa Clara University. Located in the city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 12th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 6 engineering & applied physics students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in engineering & applied physics from Santa Clara University

3
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
33.3% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat University of the Pacific if you want to pursue a degree in engineering & applied physics. Pacific is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Stockton. This university ranks 40th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 3 engineering & applied physics students who graduated with this degree at Pacific in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in engineering & applied physics from University of the Pacific

4
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA

It is hard to beat Point Loma Nazarene University if you wish to pursue a degree in engineering & applied physics. PLNU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large city of San Diego. This university ranks 69th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 6 engineering & applied physics students who graduated with this degree at PLNU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in engineering & applied physics from Point Loma Nazarene University

Best Engineering & Applied Physics Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 0
Oregon 587 5
Nevada 354 1

View All Rankings >

Engineering & Applied Physics is one of 0 different types of Engineering Physics programs to choose from.

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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