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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in California

11 Ranked Colleges
257 Degrees Awarded
$9,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $0-$30k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 2,802 people earned their degree in general environmental engineering, making the major the 226th most popular in the United States.

Across California, there were 332 general environmental engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 257 general environmental engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 11 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in general environmental engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general environmental engineering programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general environmental engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 11 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Stanford University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Stanford, California, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 13 degrees to qualified bachelors’s environmental engineering students in 2019-2020.

Stanford did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Stanford University is $-1,387 for California Bachelor’s Degree Environmental Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k. When an average net price is negative, it usually means that the student will receive more financial aid than it costs to attend the school.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Stanford University General Environmental Engineering Report

#4 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 #2 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. University of California - Berkeley is located in Berkeley, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s environmental engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Berkeley, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $8,392 for california bachelor’s degree environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of California - Berkeley.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of California - Berkeley General Environmental Engineering Report

#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Irvine, California, this large public school handed out 14 degrees to qualified bachelors’s environmental engineering students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Irvine, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $9,558 for California Bachelor’s Degree Environmental Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UC Irvine.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The low student loan default rate of 1.3% 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 General Environmental Engineering at University of California - Irvine

#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in San Luis Obispo, California, this large public school awarded 38 degrees to qualified bachelors’s environmental engineering students in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is $12,475 for california bachelor’s degree environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 1.1% 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 General Environmental Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Riverside. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. UCR is a large school located in Riverside, California that handed out 29 bachelors’s environmental engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UCR not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Riverside is $8,366 for california bachelor’s degree environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full UCR General Environmental Engineering Report

#6

San Diego State University

San Diego, California
#9 in overall quality

San Diego State University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in San Diego, California, this large public school handed out 38 degrees to qualified bachelors’s environmental engineering students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SDSU, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for SDSU is $8,870 for California Bachelor’s Degree Environmental Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about General Environmental Engineering at San Diego State University

#5 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Davis did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k list. UC Davis is located in Davis, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 22 bachelors’s environmental engineering degrees to qualified students.

UC Davis also took the #5 spot in our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UC Davis is $9,842 for california bachelor’s degree environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full UC Davis General Environmental Engineering Report

#6 in overall quality

University of California - San Diego did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #8. UCSD is located in La Jolla, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 18 bachelors’s environmental engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UCSD, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - San Diego is $9,280 for california bachelor’s degree environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about General Environmental Engineering at UCSD

#9

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#3 in overall quality

University of Southern California came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Los Angeles, California, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 1 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s environmental engineering students in 2019-2020.

USC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for USC is $14,668 for california bachelor’s degree environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 9 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 1.2% 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 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on General Environmental Engineering at USC

#10

Humboldt State University

Arcata, California
#10 in overall quality

Humboldt State University landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Arcata, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s environmental engineering degrees to 68 students in 2019-2020.

Humboldt State University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Humboldt State University is $11,263 for california bachelor’s degree environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full Humboldt State University General Environmental Engineering Report

#11 in overall quality

University of California - Merced did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #11. Located in Merced, California, this medium-sized public school awarded 14 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s environmental engineering students in 2019-2020.

UC Merced also made our “Best General Environmental Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #11. It costs about $10,782 for California Bachelor’s Degree Environmental Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of California - Merced.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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 UC Merced General Environmental Engineering Report

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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

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