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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Physics in California

6 Ranked Colleges
50 Degrees Awarded
$27,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor's in California

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 941 people earned their degree in engineering physics, making the major the 239th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, engineering physics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $59,675 and had an average of $20,001 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 124 engineering physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 50 engineering physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer a degree in engineering physics. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent engineering physics programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the engineering physics program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Engineering Physics Schools

The engineering physics school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California”.

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 Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree engineering physics students.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Physics in California

#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. University of California - Berkeley is a public institution located in Berkeley, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #2 spot in our “Best Engineering Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UC Berkeley is $15,329 for california bachelor’s degree engineering physics students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Read full report on Engineering Physics at UC Berkeley

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Diego landed the #2 spot on the list. UCSD is a large school located in La Jolla, California that handed out 2 bachelors’s engineering physics degrees in 2019-2020.

UCSD also made our “Best Engineering Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for UCSD is $14,232 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Physics students.

The low student loan default rate of 1.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Engineering Physics at University of California - San Diego

#3

University of the Pacific

Stockton, California
#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of the Pacific. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Stockton, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering physics degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering physics students list, Pacific has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Engineering Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $28,929 for california bachelor’s degree engineering physics students per year to attend University of the Pacific.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 1.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Engineering Physics at University of the Pacific

#4

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, California
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loyola Marymount University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Loyola Marymount, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Engineering Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $42,861 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Physics students per year to attend Loyola Marymount University.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The low student loan default rate of 1.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Loyola Marymount Engineering Physics Report

#5

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Santa Clara University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Santa Clara University is a medium-sized school located in Santa Clara, California that handed out 6 bachelors’s engineering physics degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering physics students list, SCU has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Engineering Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Santa Clara University is $38,327 for california bachelor’s degree engineering physics students.

The low student loan default rate of 1.0% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Engineering Physics at SCU

#6

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#1 in overall quality

California Institute of Technology came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. Located in Pasadena, California, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 3 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering physics students in 2019-2020.

Caltech also made our “Best Engineering Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend California Institute of Technology is $24,274 for california bachelor’s degree engineering physics students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Engineering Physics at California Institute of Technology

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Notes and References

References

  • 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 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).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NASA.

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