2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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” 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” 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.
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.
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More Ways to Rank General Engineering Schools
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 Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list to help you make the college decision.
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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California
The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree engineering students.
Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in California
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. This large school is located in Davis, California, and it awarded 129 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.
UC Davis did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Davis is $14,669 for california bachelor’s degree engineering 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.
Full University of California - Davis General Engineering Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. CSULB is a large public school situated in Long Beach, California. It awarded 18 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.
CSULB not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend CSULB is $9,622 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students.
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%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of San Diego. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. 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.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering students list, USD has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for USD is $32,460 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students.
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%.
Read full report on General Engineering at University of San Diego
Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Santa Clara University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Santa Clara, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 3 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.
SCU also took the #4 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for SCU is $38,327 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.
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%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Read more about General Engineering at Santa Clara University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Institute of Technology. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. Located in Pasadena, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 1 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.
Caltech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Caltech is $24,274 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.
With a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 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 94%. 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%.
Read full report on General Engineering at California Institute of Technology
Harvey Mudd College landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California ranking. This small school is located in Claremont, California, and it awarded 68 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering students list, Harvey Mudd College has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Harvey Mudd College is $32,727 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students.
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.
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in the Far Western US Region
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering
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General Engineering students with family income $75-$110k in California
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for General Engineering in California
General Engineering students in California
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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