2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $30-$48k) 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 Environmental Engineering Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Environmental Engineering is the 166th most popular major in the country with 2,802 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, environmental engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,600 and had an average of $23,573 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 332 environmental engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $51,675 and $22,465 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 10 environmental engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,544 and $133,402 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in environmental engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality environmental engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

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

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 Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k” list to help you make the college decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California

#1 in overall quality

$56,649 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Pasadena, California, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 4 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s environmental engineering students in 2019-2020.

Caltech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Environmental Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Caltech are $56,649, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Environmental Engineering at Caltech

#2

University of California - Irvine

Irvine, California

#3 in overall quality

$28,456 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k. University of California - Irvine is a large public school situated in Irvine, California. It awarded 2 doctorate’s environmental engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Irvine did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Environmental Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Irvine are $28,456, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Environmental Engineering at University of California - Irvine

#3

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

#2 in overall quality

$48,715 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Southern California. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools for a Doctorate in California For Those Making $30-$48k. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s environmental engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

USC also made our “Best Environmental Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. Average graduate tuition and fees at USC are $48,715, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full USC Environmental Engineering Report

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $30-$48k)

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 U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alesia Goosic.

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