2023 Best Value General Engineering Schools in California
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best General Engineering School for You
In 2020-2021, 1,257 degrees and certificates were awarded to general engineering students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #80 most popular major in the state.
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.
The Best Value General Engineering Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 15 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for engineering students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
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 General Engineering Schools
Our analysis found University of California - Los Angeles to be the best value school for general engineering students who want to pursue a degree in California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCLA are $13,258 per year.
UCLA also claimed a spot on our Best General Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value General Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.
In addition to its great value ranking, San Jose State is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best General Engineering Schools in California list.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means California State University - Long Beach is a great value for general engineering students. Located in the large city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSULB are $6,846 a year.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value General Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Berkeley are $14,226 a year.
UC Berkeley also made our Best General Engineering Schools in California list, coming in at #3.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is a great value for general engineering students. Cal Poly Pomona is a very large public school located in the large suburb of Pomona.
Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate students pay an average of $7,439 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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University of California - Davis came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Engineering Schools in California ranking. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Davis are $14,645 per year. The average amount in student loans that engineering majors at UC Davis take out is $13,707.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UC Davis also is in the top 15% of our Best General Engineering Schools in California ranking.
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California State University - Fresno came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Engineering Schools in California ranking. Fresno State is a fairly large public school located in the city of Fresno.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Fresno State are $6,653 per year.
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With a ranking of #8, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general engineering students. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a very large student population.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo undergraduate students pay an average of $10,195 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best General Engineering Schools in California list.
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San Francisco State University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general engineering programs. SFSU is a very large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SFSU are $7,304 per year.
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University of California - Irvine landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value general engineering programs. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a very large student population.
UC Irvine undergraduate students pay an average of $13,775 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Full General Engineering at University of California - Irvine Report
Request InformationBest Value General Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value General Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 39 |
| Oregon | 49 |
| Alaska | 4 |
More General Engineering Rankings in California
Majors Related to Engineering
One of 40 majors within the area of study, general engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Related Majors
| 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 15 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 Rémi Kaupp.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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