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Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California

2023 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

12 Colleges
$19,633 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$56,600 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Environmental Engineering School for You

With 339 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, environmental engineering is the #153 most popular major in California.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 12 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for environmental engineering students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

Top 10 Best Environmental Engineering Schools

$10,195 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo to be the best value school for environmental engineering students who want to pursue a degree in California. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $10,195 a year. After completing their degree, environmental engineering graduates from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo carry an average student debtload of $21,121.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also did well on our Best Environmental Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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$6,976 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California State University - Fullerton. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California list. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Fullerton.

Cal State Fullerton undergraduate students pay an average of $6,976 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Environmental Engineering at California State University - Fullerton Report

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#3

San Diego State University

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Diego State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

SDSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,136 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, environmental engineering majors at SDSU accumulate an average of around $21,169 in student debt.

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$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Berkeley helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best environmental engineering schools in California. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Berkeley are $14,226 a year.

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Environmental Engineering Schools in California list.

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$7,864 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Humboldt State University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the town of Arcata, Humboldt State University is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

Humboldt State University undergraduate students pay an average of $7,864 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, environmental engineering graduates from Humboldt State University carry an average student debtload of $31,000.

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$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Davis ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California list. 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.

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

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$13,754 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for environmental engineering students. It came in at #7 on the list. UCR is a fairly large public school located in the city of Riverside.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCR are $13,754 per year. Environmental Engineering majors at UCR take out an average of $22,743 in student loans while working on their egree.

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$13,775 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Irvine ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in California list. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the city of Irvine.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Irvine are $13,775 a year.

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$14,700 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #9, University of California - San Diego did quite well on this year’s best value schools for environmental engineering students. Located in the 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.

In addition to its great value ranking, UCSD is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Environmental Engineering Schools in California list.

Full Environmental Engineering at University of California - San Diego Report

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA
$56,169 Average Tuition & Fees

Stanford University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for environmental engineering students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Stanford are $56,169 per year.

Stanford not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Environmental Engineering Schools in California list.

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Best Value Environmental Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 19
Oregon 50
Nevada 25
Alaska 1

One of 40 majors within the area of study, environmental 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 U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alesia Goosic.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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