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2024 Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California

12 Colleges in California
1,120 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
Chemical Engineering is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #64 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 12 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,120 degrees in chemical engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Chemical Engineering School

Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California The chem eng program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Chemical Engineering rankings. We derive our Best Overall Chemical Engineering School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Chemical Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Chem Eng
Master's Degrees in Chem Eng
Doctor's Degrees in Chem Eng

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Chemical Engineering in California

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the chem eng degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in Chem Eng

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
10th Most Popular In CA
65 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

It's difficult to beat Stanford University if you want to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 65 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from Stanford University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
68 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in chemical engineering. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 68 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of Southern California

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
175 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

It is hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 175 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of California - Berkeley

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
119 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

University of California - Los Angeles is a great choice for students interested in a degree in chemical engineering. UCLA is a very large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were approximately 119 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
130 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were roughly 130 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of California - San Diego

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
104 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

UC Davis is a very large public university located in the suburb of Davis. This university ranks 13th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 104 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of California - Davis

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
77 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 15th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 77 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of California - Irvine

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA
59 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

UCSB is a very large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were roughly 59 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of California - Santa Barbara

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
12th Most Popular In CA
49 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 23rd out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 49 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from San Jose State University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
88 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

UCR is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Riverside. This university ranks 36th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 88 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from University of California - Riverside

Best Chemical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 195
Oregon 587 140
Nevada 354 40

View All Rankings >

Chemical Engineering is one of 2 different types of Chemical Engineering programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering 16

View All Chem Eng Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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