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Best Value Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$22,439 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$111,936 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering Doctor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, engineering students earned 25,076 degrees and certificates from a California school, making the subject the 8th in the state.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in California to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for engineering students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Engineering Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools

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

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

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

Full Engineering at University of California - Berkeley Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UCLA is a very large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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 Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking.

Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Santa Barbara helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value engineering schools in California. UCSB is a very large public school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.

UCSB graduate students pay an average of $13,581 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Santa Barbara

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - San Diego. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

Read full report on Engineering at University of California - San Diego

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of California - Davis is a great value for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. UC Davis is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.

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

Full Engineering at University of California - Davis Report

University of California - Irvine ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Irvine is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

UC Irvine graduate students pay an average of $13,356 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#7

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Santa Clara University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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

Read More…

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

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

Read More…

University of California - Merced ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the rural area of Merced, UC Merced is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

UC Merced graduate students pay an average of $13,207 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Merced

#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree engineering programs. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

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 Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Engineering at Stanford University Report

Best Value Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 3,545
Oregon 2,281
Hawaii 301
Nevada 900
Alaska 178

Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917
Biomedical Engineering 12,811
General Engineering 11,796
Industrial Engineering 9,072
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 8,001
Systems Engineering 3,904
Materials Engineering 3,415
Other Engineering 2,760
Environmental Engineering 2,759
Operations Research 1,698
Agricultural Engineering 1,472
Engineering Science 1,454
Electrical and Computer Engineering. 1,378
Petroleum Engineering 1,256
Robotics Engineering 1,243
Architectural Engineering 1,012
Engineering Physics 994
Manufacturing Engineering 947
Construction Engineering 878
Nuclear Engineering 864
Marine Engineering 445
Biological Engineering 410
Polymer & Plastics Engineering 360
Geoscience Engineering 325
Mining Engineering 314
Textile Engineering 310
Ocean Engineering 285
Engineering Mechanics 272
Metallurgical Engineering 179
Energy Systems Engineering 138
Biochemical Engineering 109
Ceramic Engineering 94
Surveying Engineering 73
Electromechanical Engineering 45
Forest Engineering 41
Paper Science & Engineering 27
Engineering Chemistry 13

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 254,454
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 177,778
Engineering Technologies 85,188
Mathematics & Statistics 52,396
Physical Sciences 50,306

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 Petty Officer 3rd Class Declan Barnes.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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