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Best Value General Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

9 Colleges
$15,234 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$87,583 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Engineering Master's Degree 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 Master's Degree Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 9 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for engineering 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.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in General Engineering

Our analysis found University of California - Los Angeles to be the best value school for general engineering students who want to pursue a master’s degree in California. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per year.

UCLA also took the #4 spot in our Best General Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California rankings.

Full General Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles Report

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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 Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school 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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Out of the 9 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona landed the # 3 spot on the list. Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Pomona.

Cal Poly Pomona graduate students pay an average of $8,873 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State University - Fresno. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value General Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Fresno State is a very large public school located in the city of Fresno.

Fresno State graduate students pay an average of $8,087 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value general engineering schools in California. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate students pay an average of $11,629 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best General Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full General Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Report

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#6

San Francisco State University

San Francisco, CA

With a ranking of #6, San Francisco State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general engineering students working on their master’s degree. SFSU is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Francisco.

SFSU graduate students pay an average of $8,738 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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With a ranking of #7, University of California - Irvine did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.

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University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for general engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public college with a very large student population.

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

Full General Engineering at University of California - Riverside Report

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With a ranking of #9, University of the Pacific did quite well on this year’s best value schools for general engineering students working on their master’s degree. Pacific is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Stockton.

Pacific graduate students pay an average of $50,638 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full General Engineering at University of the Pacific Report

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Best 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

One of 40 majors within the area of study, general 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 9 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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