2023 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Materials Engineering School for You
In 2020-2021, 497 degrees and certificates were awarded to materials engineering students who went to a California college or university. This makes it the #125 most popular major in the state.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 12 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value programs for materials 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. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 Best Materials Engineering Schools
Our 2023 rankings named California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo the best value school in California for materials engineering students. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo undergraduate students pay an average of $10,195 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, materials engineering majors at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo accumulate an average of around $15,412 in student debt.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also did well on our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California list. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Jose.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.
San Jose State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California list.
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The excellent programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best materials engineering schools in California. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.
UCLA undergraduate students pay an average of $13,258 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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Out of the 12 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Diego landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UCSD are $14,700 per year.
UCSD excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California list.
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Out of the 12 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Northridge landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public college with a fairly large student population.
CSUN undergraduate students pay an average of $7,043 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
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University of California - Davis landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value materials engineering programs. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Davis are $14,645 a year. On average, materials engineering graduates from UC Davis take out $12,750 in student loans while working on their degree.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UC Davis also is in the top 15% of our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking.
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With a ranking of #7, University of California - Irvine did quite well on this year’s best value schools for materials engineering students. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.
UC Irvine undergraduate students pay an average of $13,775 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, materials engineering graduates from UC Irvine carry an average student debtload of $18,500.
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With a ranking of #8, California State University - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s best value schools for materials engineering students. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Cal State LA is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Cal State LA are $6,785 per year.
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University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for materials engineering students. It came in at #9 on the list. UCR is a very large public school located in the city of Riverside.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCR are $13,754 a year.
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University of California - Merced ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the rural area of Merced, UC Merced is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Merced are $13,657 per year.
Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of California - Merced
Request InformationBest Value Materials Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region
Explore all the Best Value Materials Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Washington | 135 |
| Oregon | 14 |
| Nevada | 16 |
More Materials Engineering Rankings in California
Materials Engineering Related Majors for Materials Engineering
Materials Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.
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 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 Panoramedia.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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