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2025 Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California

12 Colleges in California
1,163 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$73,817 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in chemical engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #70 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 12 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,163 degrees in chemical engineering annually.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Chemical Engineering School

Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California Your choice of chemical engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. 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.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Chemical Engineering Degree Level

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

The chem eng 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 the Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California. 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
57 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

Any student pursuing a degree in chemical engineering needs to check out Stanford University. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were roughly 57 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
152 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$81,553 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in chemical engineering has to take a look at University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 152 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Chemical Engineering degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley get an earnings boost of approximately $7,736 above the average earnings of chemical engineering graduates.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
58 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$68,234 Median Starting Salary

It is difficult to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 58 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, chem eng degree recipients usually make an average of $68,234 in the first five years of their career.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
86 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$68,337 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Davis is a wonderful option for students interested in a degree in chemical engineering. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 86 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the chem eng program report average early career wages of $68,337.

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

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
166 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
21.7% Growth in Graduates

UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the large city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were about 166 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the chem eng program earn an average of $59,508 in their early career salary.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
105 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$76,680 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 105 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles receive $2,863 more than the standard chem eng student.

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

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
107 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
28.0% Growth in Graduates

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the city of Irvine. This university ranks 12th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 107 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the chem eng program earn about $57,540 for their early career.

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
68 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
13.2% Growth in Graduates

Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #47 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were approximately 68 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering major at University of California - Santa Barbara make $5,920 above the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

9
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
91 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
19.8% Growth in Graduates

Cal Poly Pomona is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Pomona. This university ranks 60th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 91 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the chem eng program state that they receive average early career income of $69,009.

More information about a degree in chemical engineering from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
90 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
2.2% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Riverside, UCR is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 28th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 90 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the chem eng program report average early career earnings of $68,245.

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 300 210
Oregon 266 140
Nevada 192 40

View All Rankings >

Chemical Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Chem Eng Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Chemical Engineering 1,159
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering 4

View All Chem Eng Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 5,039
Electrical Engineering 4,174
Civil Engineering 3,269
Computer Engineering 3,190
Biomedical Engineering 1,706
General Engineering 1,360
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,357
Systems Engineering 498
Materials Engineering 488
Other Engineering 476

View All Chem Eng Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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