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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

6 Ranked Colleges
248 Degrees Awarded
$25,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Getting Aid

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 11,925 people earned their degree in general engineering, making the major the 78th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $66,152 and had an average of $20,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,382 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $78,483 and $12,706 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 248 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer 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 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 Getting Aid” 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. 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 Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in California (With Aid)

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 Getting Aid list. Located in Davis, California, this large public school awarded 129 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

UC Davis not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend UC Davis is $14,669 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid.

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 University of California - Davis General Engineering Report

#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Long Beach. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid 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.

CSULB did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $9,622 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid per year to attend CSULB.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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 more about General Engineering at California State University - Long Beach

#3

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 #3 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. California Institute of Technology 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 did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for California Institute of Technology is $24,274 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid.

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 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. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Caltech General Engineering Report

#4

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvey Mudd College. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Harvey Mudd College is located in Claremont, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 68 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

Harvey Mudd College also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for Harvey Mudd College is $32,727 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%.

Read full report on General Engineering at Harvey Mudd College

#5

University of San Diego

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of San Diego. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. USD is a private not-for-profit institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

USD also took the #5 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend USD is $32,460 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students with aid.

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 USD General Engineering Report

#6

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#4 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, Santa Clara University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Santa Clara, California. It awarded 3 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

SCU also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $38,327 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students with aid per year to attend SCU.

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 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on General Engineering at Santa Clara University

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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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