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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

6 Ranked Colleges
244 Degrees Awarded
$14,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $30-$48k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking.

General Engineering is the 83rd most popular major in the country with 9,411 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 491 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 244 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 6 colleges that offered a degree in general engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general engineering programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the general engineering program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank General Engineering Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

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

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in California

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Davis. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. University of California - Davis is a large public school situated in Davis, California. It awarded 129 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k list, UC Davis has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $10,769 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UC Davis.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about General Engineering at University of California - Davis

#2

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of Technology. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Caltech is located in Pasadena, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

Caltech also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California Institute of Technology is $3,756 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

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 student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. 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 Engineering at Caltech

#3

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvey Mudd College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Harvey Mudd College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Claremont, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 68 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k list, Harvey Mudd College has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $23,234 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Harvey Mudd College.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about General Engineering at Harvey Mudd College

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k. California State University - Long Beach is a public institution located in Long Beach, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 18 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CSULB, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $7,595 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend California State University - Long Beach.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full California State University - Long Beach General Engineering Report

#5

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Santa Clara University landed the #5 spot on the list. SCU is located in Santa Clara, California and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

SCU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $18,949 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend SCU.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. 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%.

Full Santa Clara University General Engineering Report

#6

University of San Diego

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

University of San Diego came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. USD is located in San Diego, California and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USD, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $23,224 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend University of San Diego.

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 University of San Diego General 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

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Rémi Kaupp.

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