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2025 Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

10 Colleges in California
899 Bachelor's Degrees
$73,243 Avg Early-Career Salary
a bachelor's degree in aerospace & aeronautical engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #76 out of 363 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 10 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 899 bachelor's degrees in aerospace & aeronautical engineering to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of aerospace & aeronautical engineering for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for aerospace & aeronautical engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Schools

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More Aerospace Engineering Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in aerospace & aeronautical engineering.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Aerospace Engineering

1

It's hard to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in aerospace & aeronautical engineering. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of Southern California get an earnings boost of about $5,737 above the average income of aerospace & aeronautical engineering graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from University of Southern California

2
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
13 Annual Graduates

It's difficult to beat Stanford University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in aerospace & aeronautical engineering. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford.More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from Stanford University

3
110 Annual Graduates
$85,509 Median Starting Salary
$54,508 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in aerospace & aeronautical engineering. Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the aerospace & aeronautical engineering degree program at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo make $12,266 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

4
87 Annual Graduates
$65,401 Median Starting Salary
$15,000 Median Student Debt

University of California - San Diego is a wonderful decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in aerospace & aeronautical engineering. UCSD is a very large public university located in the city of La Jolla.

After graduating, aerospace engineering bachelor's recipients usually earn about $65,401 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from University of California - San Diego

5

Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduating, aerospace engineering bachelor's recipients typically make an average of $71,068 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

6

Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the aerospace engineering program report average early career wages of $71,633.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from University of California - Davis

7
95 Annual Graduates
$67,425 Median Starting Salary
$45,384 Median Student Debt

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine.

Soon after graduating, aerospace engineering bachelor's recipients generally earn around $67,425 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from University of California - Irvine

8

Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Pomona.

Those aerospace & aeronautical engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona make $5,077 more than the average aerospace engineering grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

9

SDSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Diego.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the aerospace engineering program earn about $74,375 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from San Diego State University

10

CSULB is a fairly large public university located in the city of Long Beach.

Soon after graduation, aerospace engineering bachelor's recipients typically make around $66,477 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in aerospace & aeronautical engineering from California State University - Long Beach

Best Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 73
Nevada 129 0

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One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Aerospace Engineering Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 899

Majors Similar to Aerospace Engineering

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 3,722
Electrical Engineering 2,314
Computer Engineering 2,214
Civil Engineering 2,049
Biomedical Engineering 998
Chemical Engineering 764
Industrial Engineering 277
Environmental Engineering 234
Other Engineering 178
Materials Engineering 177

Notes and References

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