2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 689 people earned their degree in materials sciences, making the major the 258th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, materials sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $60,225 and had an average of $23,698 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 171 materials sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 55 materials sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in materials sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent materials sciences 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 materials sciences program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California

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

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Sciences in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#1 in overall quality

$15,329 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s materials science degrees to 36 students in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #1 spot in our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Berkeley is $15,329 for california bachelor’s degree materials science students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Materials Sciences at UC Berkeley

#2

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

#2 in overall quality

$14,279 Average Net Price

$59,417 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California list. University of California - Los Angeles is located in Los Angeles, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 19 bachelors’s materials science degrees to qualified students.

UCLA not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $14,279 for california bachelor’s degree materials science students per year to attend UCLA.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Read more about Materials Sciences at UCLA

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Sciences in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Sciences

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 Per Henning.

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