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Most Popular Chemical Engineering Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Chemical Engineering Schools in California

14 Colleges
$58,086 Avg Salary
$17,925 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Chemical Engineering 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Most Popular Chemical Engineering Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 14 schools in California to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Chemical Engineering program at each school on the list.

The colleges and universities below are the most popular for chem eng majors pursuing a .

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the most popular school in California for chemical engineering students. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

While working on their degree, chem eng majors at UC Berkeley accumulate an average of around $15,000 in student debt.

Full Chemical Engineering at University of California - Berkeley Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of California - San Diego is a great place for chemical engineering students. UCSD is a very large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

The average amount in student loans that chem eng majors at UCSD take out is $19,185.

Full Chemical Engineering at University of California - San Diego Report

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Davis is a great place for chemical engineering students. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average amount in student loans that chem eng majors at UC Davis take out is $18,500. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $278, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great place for chemical engineering students. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a fairly large student population.

On average, chem eng graduates from UCLA take out $19,783 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Riverside. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Most Popular Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public school with a very large student population.

After completing their degree, chem eng graduates from UCR carry an average student debt load of $17,500. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $166.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at University of California - Riverside

University of California - Irvine ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

While working on their degree, chem eng majors at UC Irvine accumulate an average of around $17,249 in student debt.

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With a ranking of #7, California State University - Long Beach did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for chemical engineering students. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a very large student population.

The average amount in student loans that chem eng majors at CSULB take out is $17,034.

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California State Polytechnic University - Pomona did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for chemical engineering students. It came in at #8 on the list. Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Pomona.

After completing their degree, chem eng graduates from Cal Poly Pomona carry an average student debt load of $21,000.

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University of Southern California ranked #9 on this year’s Most Popular Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Chem Eng majors at USC take out an average of $16,500 in student loans while working on their egree.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular chemical engineering programs. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Full Chemical Engineering at Stanford University Report

Best Chemical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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 14 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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