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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

6 Ranked Colleges
244 Degrees Awarded
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $48-$75k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 $48-$75k” 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.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools 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 $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in California

#1

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvey Mudd College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Harvey Mudd College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Claremont, California. It awarded 68 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Harvey Mudd College also took the #1 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Harvey Mudd College is $14,210 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

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 student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read full report on General Engineering at Harvey Mudd College

#2

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California Institute of Technology. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Caltech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pasadena, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Caltech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend California Institute of Technology is $8,042 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 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 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Caltech General Engineering Report

#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Davis, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 129 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Davis, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Davis is $13,578 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Read more about General Engineering at UC Davis

#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. California State University - Long Beach is a large school located in Long Beach, California that handed out 18 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $48-$75k list, CSULB has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CSULB is $10,807 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full California State University - Long Beach General Engineering Report

#5

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#4 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 Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Santa Clara University 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 also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for SCU is $24,848 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

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 more about General Engineering at SCU

#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 $48-$75k ranking. San Diego, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.

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 $25,727 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $48-$75k 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%.

Read full report on General Engineering at USD

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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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