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Best Value Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California

2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$22,439 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$103,564 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree School for You

With 5,137 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, mechanical engineering is the #24 most popular major in California.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for ME 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.

Top 10 Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best value school in California for mechanical engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Berkeley are $14,160 per year.

UC Berkeley also made our Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list, coming in at #3.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value mechanical engineering schools in California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UCLA graduate students pay an average of $13,036 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 20% of our Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Santa Barbara. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSB are $13,581 a year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Davis. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Davis are $13,608 per year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSD are $13,564 a year.

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University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Irvine are $13,356 a year.

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#7

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

With a ranking of #7, Santa Clara University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for mechanical engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SCU are $25,170 per year.

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

UCR graduate students pay an average of $13,467 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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University of California - Merced ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Merced is a moderately-sized public school located in the rural area of Merced.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Merced are $13,207 a year.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

With a ranking of #10, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for mechanical engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Stanford graduate students pay an average of $55,011 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Stanford did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

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Best Value Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 1,078
Oregon 646
Nevada 270
Hawaii 90
Alaska 66

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

Majors Similar to ME

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917
Biomedical Engineering 12,811

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 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 Michel Villeneuve.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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