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Most Popular Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California

10 Colleges
$80,505 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering Graduate Certificate 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 Most Popular Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in California to see which graduate certificate programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Engineering program at each school on the list.

The following schools top our list of the Most Popular Engineering Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Our analysis found Naval Postgraduate School to be the most popular school for engineering students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in California. Located in the midsize suburb of Monterey, Naval Postgraduate School is a public college with a small student population.

Of the 537 students majoring in engineering at Naval Postgraduate School, 77% are male and 23% are female.

Read full report on Engineering at Naval Postgraduate School

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend San Jose State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Jose.

Women make up 24% of the engineering majors at the school.

Read full report on Engineering at San Jose State University

Out of the 10 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full Engineering at University of Southern California Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is a great place for engineering students working on their graduate certificate. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Of the 5 students majoring in engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 80% are male and 20% are female.

Read full report on Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

#4

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means San Diego State University is a great place for engineering students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

About 40% of the students majoring in engineering at the school are women while 60% are male.

Read full report on Engineering at San Diego State University

#6

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Full Engineering at Stanford University Report

#7

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

Loyola Marymount University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for engineering students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at Loyola Marymount University

#8

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

With a ranking of #8, Santa Clara University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Full Engineering at Santa Clara University Report

California Institute of Technology landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular graduate certificate engineering programs. Located in the midsize city of Pasadena, Caltech is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Read More…

University of California - Los Angeles did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular places for engineering students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #8 on the list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the city of Los Angeles.

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

Best Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular Engineering Schools 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 10 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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