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2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California

9 Ranked Colleges
213 Degrees Awarded
$34,500 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master's in California

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 3,485 people earned their degree in materials engineering, making the major the 150th most popular in the United States. 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 master’s degree level specifically, there were 213 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,281 and $50,119 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in materials engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent materials engineering programs, but they also 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 Master’s in California” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California.

Top 9 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering in California

#1

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #1 spot on the list. University of California - Los Angeles is a public institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 33 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UCLA also made our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #2. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Los Angeles are $28,131, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full University of California - Los Angeles Materials Engineering Report

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California. Located in La Jolla, California, this large public school handed out 50 diplomas to qualified masters’s materials engineering students in 2019-2020.

UCSD not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UCSD are $28,631.

Full University of California - San Diego Materials Engineering Report

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Irvine. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California. University of California - Irvine is a public institution located in Irvine, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 14 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Irvine did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of California - Irvine are $28,456, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at UC Irvine

#4

San Jose State University

San Jose, California
#8 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California list. San Jose State is a large public school situated in San Jose, California. It awarded 12 masters’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

San Jose State also took the #8 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at San Jose State are $18,790, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Materials Engineering at San Jose State University

#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Davis. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California list. UC Davis is located in Davis, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 masters’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.

UC Davis did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UC Davis are $28,700, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of California - Davis Materials Engineering Report

#9 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, California State University - Northridge did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California list. Located in Northridge, California, this large public school handed out 12 diplomas to qualified masters’s materials engineering students in 2019-2020.

CSUN also took the #9 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at California State University - Northridge are $17,955, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full California State University - Northridge Materials Engineering Report

#7

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California
#4 in overall quality

University of Southern California came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California ranking. University of Southern California is a private not-for-profit institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 51 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at USC are $48,715, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Southern California Materials Engineering Report

#8

Stanford University

Stanford, California

Stanford University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California list. Stanford University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Stanford, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 33 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california master’s degree materials engineering students list, Stanford has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Stanford are $55,011, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Stanford Materials Engineering Report

#9

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#3 in overall quality

With a ranking of #9, California Institute of Technology did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Master’s in California list. Pasadena, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s materials engineering degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

Caltech also made our “Best Materials Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. Average graduate tuition and fees at Caltech are $56,649, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Materials Engineering at Caltech

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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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