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2023 Most Popular Colleges for Software Engineering in California

15 Ranked Colleges
868 Degrees Awarded
$34,200 Avg Cost*
Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Software Engineering is the 167th most popular major in the country with 4,251 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across California, there were 868 software engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California” ranking, we looked at 15 colleges that offer a degree in software engineering. This ranking identifies schools that graduate the most students in software engineering.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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The computer software engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California”.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California”.

1
San Jose State crest
San Jose State University
San Jose, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend San Jose State University. The school came in at #1 for the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California. San Jose State University is located in San Jose, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 541 ’s computer software engineering degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Read more about Software Engineering at San Jose State

2

Out of the 15 schools in the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Irvine, California, and it awarded 109 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full UC Irvine Software Engineering Report

3

Out of the 15 schools in the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the #3 spot on the list. California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is a large school located in San Luis Obispo, California that handed out 61 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Full Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Software Engineering Report

4

Out of the 15 schools in the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Fullerton landed the #4 spot on the list. This large school is located in Fullerton, California, and it awarded 59 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.

Full Cal State Fullerton Software Engineering Report

5

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend International Technological University. The school came in at #5 for the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California. San Jose, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s computer software engineering degrees to 25 students in 2020-2021.

Read more about Software Engineering at ITU

6
Cal Baptist crest
California Baptist University
Riverside, California

California Baptist University ranked #6 on this year’s Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California list. Cal Baptist is located in Riverside, California and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 15 ’s computer software engineering degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Software Engineering at Cal Baptist

7

University of California - Merced landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California ranking. Merced, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s computer software engineering degrees to 13 students in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of California - Merced Software Engineering Report

7
9

California State University - San Marcos did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California ranking, coming in at #9. California State University - San Marcos is a fairly large public school situated in San Marcos, California. It awarded 9 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Software Engineering at California State University - San Marcos

10
Chapman crest
Chapman University
Orange, California

Chapman University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California ranking. Chapman University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Orange, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 7 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Read full report on Software Engineering at Chapman

10

California State University - Northridge ranked #10 on this year’s Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California list. Northridge, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s computer software engineering degrees to 7 students in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Software Engineering at CSUN

12
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, California

Santa Clara University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California ranking. Santa Clara University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Santa Clara, California. It awarded 2 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Software Engineering at SCU

12

California State University - Sacramento came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California ranking. Sac State is located in Sacramento, California and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 2 ’s computer software engineering degrees to qualified students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Software Engineering at Sac State

14
Naval Postgraduate School crest
Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, California

Naval Postgraduate School landed the #14 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California ranking. Located in Monterey, California, this small public school handed out 0 diplomas to qualified ’s computer software engineering students in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Software Engineering at Naval Postgraduate School

14

DeVry University - California ranked #14 on this year’s Most Well Attended Computer Software Engineering Major in California list. DeVry University - California is a small school located in Pomona, California that handed out 0 ’s computer software engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

Full DeVry University - California Software Engineering Report

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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