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2024 Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California

12 Colleges in California
1,136 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$58,086 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 reviewed 12 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of chemical engineering. Combined, these schools handed out 1,136 degrees in chemical engineering to qualified students.

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
65 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded

Any student who is interested in chemical engineering has 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 #3 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were roughly 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
68 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$66,458 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat University of Southern California if you want to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 colleges 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 year we have data available. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering program at University of Southern California make $8,372 above the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
175 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
0.6% Growth in Graduates

Every student who is interested in chemical engineering needs to take a look at University of California - Berkeley. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 175 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Chemical Engineering degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley receive an earnings boost of approximately $6,845 above the average earnings of chemical engineering majors.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
119 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
18.5% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in chemical engineering. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 119 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the chem eng program make an average of $56,206 in their early career salary.

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

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
130 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$53,711 Median Starting Salary

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

There were about 130 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year. After graduation, chem eng degree recipients usually earn about $53,711 in their early careers.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
120 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$57,536 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 13th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 120 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the chem eng program make around $57,536 for their early career.

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

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
77 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$55,295 Median Starting Salary

UC Irvine is a very large public university located in the large city of Irvine. This university ranks 15th out of 168 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 77 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the chem eng program report average early career wages of $55,295.

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
59 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$61,540 Median Starting Salary

Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #45 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSB is a great university overall.

There were about 59 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSB in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering degree program at University of California - Santa Barbara make $3,454 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

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

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
49 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
$59,999 Median Starting Salary

San Jose State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Jose. This university ranks 23rd out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were roughly 49 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at San Jose State in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the chem eng program make around $59,999 in their early career salary.

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

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
88 Chem Eng Degrees Awarded
1.1% Growth in Graduates

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

There were approximately 88 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the chem eng program make an average of $44,484 for their early career.

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 1,120
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering 16

View All Chem Eng Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 5,137
Electrical Engineering 4,697
Computer Engineering 3,389
Civil Engineering 3,198
Biomedical Engineering 1,744
General Engineering 1,386
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,275
Systems Engineering 537
Materials Engineering 497
Industrial Engineering 464

View All Chem Eng Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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