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Best Value Chemical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$20,795 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$75,252 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Chemical Engineering Master's Degree School for You

Chemical Engineering is the #87 most popular major in California with 1,136 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Chemical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for chem eng 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 10 Best Chemical Engineering Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found San Jose State University to be the best value school for chemical engineering students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at San Jose State are $9,286 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UCLA also made our Best Chemical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #4.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of California - San Diego helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value chemical engineering schools in California. UCSD is a very large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCSD are $13,564 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCSD also is in the top 20% of our Best Chemical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Santa Barbara. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UCSB graduate students pay an average of $13,581 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for chemical engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

CSULB graduate students pay an average of $8,280 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Davis landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Davis are $13,608 a year.

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University of California - Irvine ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a very large student population.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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University of California - Berkeley landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree chemical engineering programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Chemical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

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University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for chemical engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCR are $13,467 per year.

Full Chemical Engineering at University of California - Riverside Report

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree chemical engineering programs. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Stanford are $55,011 a year.

Stanford also made our Best Chemical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #1.

Full Chemical Engineering at Stanford University Report

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Best Value Chemical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 210
Oregon 140
Nevada 40

One of 40 majors within the area of study, chemical 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
Biomedical Engineering 12,811

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 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 Mikulova.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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