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2025 Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

21 Colleges in California
2,049 Bachelor's Degrees
$74,726 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #35 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 21 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for civil engineering students pursuing a bachelor's degree. Combined, these schools handed out 2,049 bachelor's degrees in civil engineering to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Civil Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California Your choice of civil 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

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 civil engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Civil Engineering Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Civil Eng 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 Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Civil Engineering in California

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.

10 Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Civil Eng

1

University of California - Davis is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the civil eng program earn an average of $75,165 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - Davis

2

University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Those civil engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Southern California earn $10,536 more than the standard civil eng grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of Southern California

3

It's difficult to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.

Civil Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Berkeley get an earnings boost of approximately $3,416 over the typical earnings of civil engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - Berkeley

4

University of California - Los Angeles is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the civil eng program report average early career income of $75,510.

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

5
148 Annual Graduates
$80,673 Median Starting Salary
$29,140 Median Student Debt

Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those civil engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo make $5,947 more than the typical civil eng student.

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

6

UCSD is a fairly large public university located in the city of La Jolla.

Soon after graduation, civil eng bachelor's recipients generally make around $65,478 in the first five years of their career.

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

7
110 Annual Graduates
$73,835 Median Starting Salary
$15,120 Median Student Debt

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

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the civil eng program earn about $73,835 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from University of California - Irvine

8
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA

Located in the medium-sized city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Civil Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from Santa Clara University get an earnings boost of about $10,157 above the average earnings of civil engineering graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Santa Clara University

9

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

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the civil eng program state that they receive average early career earnings of $75,758.

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

10
142 Annual Graduates
$73,584 Median Starting Salary
$33,998 Median Student Debt

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

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the civil eng program make an average of $73,584 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in civil engineering from San Diego State University

Best Civil Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 372
Oregon 185 229
Nevada 129 123
Hawaii 112 75
Alaska 75 43

View All Rankings >

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

Civil Eng Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Civil Engineering 1,939
Structural Engineering 109
Water Resources Engineering 1

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 3,722
Electrical Engineering 2,314
Computer Engineering 2,214
Biomedical Engineering 998
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 899
Chemical Engineering 764
Industrial Engineering 277
Environmental Engineering 234
Other Engineering 178
Materials Engineering 177

Notes and References

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