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Most Popular Civil Engineering Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Civil Engineering Schools in California

24 Colleges
$68,987 Avg Salary
$19,554 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Civil Engineering School for You

Civil Engineering is the #41 most popular major in California with 3,198 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Most Popular Civil Engineering Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 24 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 Civil Engineering program at each school on the list.

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

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

Civil Eng majors at UC Berkeley take out an average of $14,342 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at University of California - Berkeley

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

Civil Eng majors at Cal Poly Pomona take out an average of $17,981 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $189, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Most Popular Civil Engineering Schools in California list. 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 civil eng majors at UC Davis take out is $16,202.

Full Civil Engineering at University of California - Davis Report

Out of the 24 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Civil Eng majors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo take out an average of $20,368 in student loans while working on their egree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $315.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of California - San Diego is a great place for civil engineering students. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

While working on their degree, civil eng majors at UCSD accumulate an average of around $20,000 in student debt.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at University of California - San Diego

California State University - Sacramento came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Civil Engineering Schools in California ranking. Sac State is a very large public school located in the large city of Sacramento.

Civil Eng majors at Sac State take out an average of $22,000 in student loans while working on their egree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $156.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at California State University - Sacramento

#7

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

With a ranking of #7, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for civil engineering students. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at Stanford University

California State University - Long Beach did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from CSULB carry an average student debt load of $18,500.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at California State University - Long Beach

San Jose State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

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#10

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #10 on the list. SDSU is a very large public school located in the city of San Diego.

On average, civil eng graduates from SDSU take out $19,842 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at San Diego State University

Best Civil Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Civil Engineering Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 581
Oregon 327
Nevada 179
Hawaii 98
Alaska 54

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

Majors Similar to Civil Eng

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917
Biomedical Engineering 12,811

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 24 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 Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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