by our College Data Analytics TeamFor its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 30 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for engineering students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 14,883 bachelor's degrees in engineering during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology
The engineering bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.
The engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California.
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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in engineering.
University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in engineering. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from University of California - Berkeley
Stanford University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in engineering. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from Stanford University
University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in engineering. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from University of Southern California
Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in engineering needs to take a look at Santa Clara University. Located in the city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from Santa Clara University
UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the large city of La Jolla.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from University of California - San Diego
Harvey Mudd College is a fairly small private not-for-profit college located in the large suburb of Claremont.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from Harvey Mudd College
Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from University of California - Davis
Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from University of California - Los Angeles
UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the city of Irvine.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from University of California - Irvine
Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
Explore all the Best Engineering Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Colleges | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| Washington | 34 | 2,364 |
| Hawaii | 30 | 238 |
| Oregon | 30 | 1,665 |
| Nevada | 30 | 730 |
| Alaska | 29 | 146 |
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 3,755 |
| Electrical Engineering | 2,417 |
| Computer Engineering | 2,301 |
| Civil Engineering | 2,174 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 998 |
| Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering | 875 |
| Chemical Engineering | 846 |
| Industrial Engineering | 271 |
| Environmental Engineering | 259 |
| Other Engineering | 211 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biological & Biomedical Sciences | 16,419 |
| Mathematics & Statistics | 5,333 |
| Physical Sciences | 3,800 |
| Natural Resources & Conservation | 3,033 |
| Agriculture & Agriculture Operations | 1,916 |
| Architecture & Related Services | 1,244 |
| Engineering Technologies | 1,131 |
| Science Technologies / Technicians | 23 |
| Military Technologies & Applied Sciences | 3 |
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