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

9 Ranked Colleges
185 Degrees Awarded
$9,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $30-$48k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking.

Materials Engineering is the 150th most popular major in the country with 3,485 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, materials engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $63,129 and had an average of $23,918 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 482 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,000 and $15,750 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 185 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in materials engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great materials 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 materials engineering program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Stanford University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k. Stanford is located in Stanford, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 8 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.

Stanford did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $1,145 for California Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Stanford.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The low student loan default rate of 0.5% 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 Materials Engineering at Stanford

#2

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #2 spot on the list. University of California - Los Angeles is a large school located in Los Angeles, California that handed out 23 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UCLA also made our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $9,254 for California Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UCLA.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its 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%.

Full University of California - Los Angeles Materials Engineering Report

#3

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #3 spot on the list. Caltech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pasadena, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Caltech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Caltech is $3,756 for california bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

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%.

Read more about Materials Engineering at Caltech

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Irvine. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Irvine, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to 30 students in 2019-2020.

UC Irvine did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Irvine is $10,373 for California Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full UC Irvine Materials Engineering Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. San Luis Obispo, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to 38 students in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also made our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is $14,680 for California Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Materials Engineering Report

#8 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Riverside did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Located in Riverside, California, this large public school awarded 14 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s materials engineering students in 2019-2020.

UCR also made our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #8. It costs about $9,151 for california bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UCR.

The low student loan default rate of 2.1% 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 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of California - Riverside Materials Engineering Report

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Davis did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. University of California - Davis is located in Davis, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 38 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Davis, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Davis is $10,769 for california bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of California - Davis Materials Engineering Report

#8

San Jose State University

San Jose, California
#6 in overall quality

San Jose State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #8. San Jose State University is located in San Jose, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 22 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at San Jose State, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for San Jose State University is $11,752 for California Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.7% 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 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at San Jose State University

#9 in overall quality

University of California - Merced did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #9. UC Merced is a public institution located in Merced, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $30-$48k list, UC Merced has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $11,565 for California Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UC Merced.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, 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 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Materials Engineering at University of California - Merced

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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 Panoramedia.

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