2023 Best Value Colleges for Systems Engineering in California (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2020-2021, 3,904 people earned their degree in systems engineering, making the major the 160th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, systems engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $89,736 and had an average of $21,799 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 537 systems engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $125,714 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in systems engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent systems engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the systems engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Systems Engineering Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in California For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in California For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for california systems engineering students with aid.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Systems Engineering in California (With Aid)

1

University of California - San Diego
La Jolla, California

#2 in overall quality

$15,240 Average Net Price

$50,251 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in California For Those Getting Aid list. UCSD is a public institution located in La Jolla, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 36 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UCSD also took the #2 spot in our “Best Systems Engineering Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - San Diego is $15,240 for california systems engineering students with aid.

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 undergrad 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 Systems Engineering at University of California - San Diego

2

University of Southern California
Los Angeles, California

#1 in overall quality

$32,569 Average Net Price

$65,044 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the #2 spot on the list. Los Angeles, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s systems engineering degrees to 28 students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USC, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Systems Engineering Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $32,569 for California Systems Engineering students with aid per year to attend USC.

With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Systems Engineering at University of Southern California

3

Loyola Marymount University
Los Angeles, California

#3 in overall quality

$44,467 Average Net Price

$48,301 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Loyola Marymount University landed the #3 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 10 ’s systems engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

Loyola Marymount also made our “Best Systems Engineering Schools in California” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend Loyola Marymount is $44,467 for california systems engineering students with aid.

With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Systems Engineering at Loyola Marymount University

• Best Value Colleges for Systems Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Colleges for Systems Engineering (With Aid)

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 luis gomes.