Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

12 Colleges
$22,532 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$75,108 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering School for You

With 1,275 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, aerospace and aeronautical engineering is the #79 most popular major in California.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 12 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for aerospace engineering students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for aerospace engineering majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Schools

$7,439 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found California State Polytechnic University - Pomona to be the best value school for aerospace and aeronautical engineering students who want to pursue a degree in California. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal Poly Pomona are $7,439 per year. While working on their degree, aerospace engineering majors at Cal Poly Pomona accumulate an average of around $26,000 in student debt.

Read More…

$10,195 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo undergraduate students pay an average of $10,195 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that aerospace engineering majors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo take out is $22,408. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $540, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

In addition to its great value ranking, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California list.

Read More…

Out of the 12 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Jose State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the city of San Jose.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at San Jose State are $7,852 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, San Jose State also did well on our Best Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering at San Jose State University Report

$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at California State University - Long Beach helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best aerospace and aeronautical engineering schools in California. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSULB are $6,846 per year. The average amount in student loans that aerospace engineering majors at CSULB take out is $27,202.

Full Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering at California State University - Long Beach Report

#5

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
$8,136 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 12 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Diego State University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SDSU are $8,136 a year. The average amount in student loans that aerospace engineering majors at SDSU take out is $23,626.

Full Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering at San Diego State University Report

$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s best value schools for aerospace and aeronautical engineering students. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

UCLA undergraduate students pay an average of $13,258 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Aerospace Engineering majors at UCLA take out an average of $19,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

UCLA also claimed a spot on our Best Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles

$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best value schools for aerospace and aeronautical engineering students. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Davis.

UC Davis undergraduate students pay an average of $14,645 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, aerospace engineering majors at UC Davis accumulate an average of around $15,000 in student debt.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UC Davis also is in the top 15% of our Best Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California ranking.

Read More…

University of California - San Diego landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value aerospace and aeronautical engineering programs. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCSD are $14,700 a year. The average amount in student loans that aerospace engineering majors at UCSD take out is $20,000. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $142, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCSD also did well on our Best Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

$13,775 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Irvine landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value aerospace and aeronautical engineering programs. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

UC Irvine undergraduate students pay an average of $13,775 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, aerospace engineering graduates from UC Irvine take out $20,000 in student loans while working on their degree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $324, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering at University of California - Irvine Report

#10

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA
$55,860 Average Tuition & Fees

Santa Clara University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SCU are $55,860 per year.

SCU did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our Best Aeronautical Engineering Schools in California list.

Read More…

Best Value Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 135
Nevada 2

One of 40 majors within the area of study, aerospace and aeronautical engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 12 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Ian3055.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.