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Best Value Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

22 Colleges
$16,200 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$85,090 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering Master'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 Master's Degree Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 22 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.

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 Master’s Degree Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for engineering majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Engineering Master's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named San Jose State University the best value school in California for engineering students working on their master’s degree. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the city of San Jose.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at San Jose State are $9,286 per year.

Read full report on Engineering at San Jose State University

Out of the 22 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the # 2 spot on the list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are $11,629 a year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

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

The excellent master’s degree programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value engineering schools in California. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCLA are $13,036 a year.

UCLA not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list.

Full Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California State Polytechnic University - Pomona. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal Poly Pomona are $8,873 per year.

Full Engineering at California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

UC Berkeley graduate students pay an average of $14,160 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UC Berkeley also took the #2 spot in our Best Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California rankings.

Full Engineering at University of California - Berkeley Report

#6

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

San Diego State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SDSU are $9,570 a year.

Full Engineering at San Diego State University Report

California State University - Long Beach did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. CSULB is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Long Beach.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at CSULB are $8,280 per year.

Read full report on Engineering at California State University - Long Beach

California State University - Fullerton ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. Cal State Fullerton is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Fullerton.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Cal State Fullerton are $8,410 per year.

Read More…

University of California - San Diego came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California ranking. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a very large student population.

UCSD graduate students pay an average of $13,564 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCSD also did well on our Best Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

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

With a ranking of #10, California State University - Sacramento did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the large city of Sacramento, Sac State is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Sac State are $8,826 a year.

Full Engineering at California State University - Sacramento 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 22 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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