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2025 Best General Civil Engineering Schools in California

21 Colleges in California
2,949 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in general civil engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #41 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 21 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Civil Engineering Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 2,949 degrees in general civil engineering to qualified students.

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

Choosing a Great General Civil Engineering School

Best General Civil Engineering Schools in California The general civil engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for General Civil Engineering rankings. We derive our Best Overall General Civil 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.

General Civil Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in General Civil Engineering
Master's Degrees in General Civil Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in General Civil Engineering

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Civil Engineering Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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 General Civil Engineering in California

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the general civil engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top California Schools in General Civil Engineering

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
181 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

Stanford University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a degree in general civil engineering. 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 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were roughly 181 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general civil engineering from Stanford University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
209 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

It's difficult to beat University of California - Davis if you want to pursue a degree in general civil engineering. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were roughly 209 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
20th Most Popular In CA
7.1% Growth in Graduates

Any student who is interested in general civil engineering needs to check out University of Southern California. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the 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 roughly 28 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
383 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

Every student pursuing a degree in general civil engineering has to check out 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 about 383 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year.

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

5
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
130 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #165 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.

There were roughly 130 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general civil engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
11th Most Popular In CA
198 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very 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 198 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

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

7
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
21st Most Popular In CA

Located in the city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #53 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.

There were about 22 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general civil engineering from Santa Clara University

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
12th Most Popular In CA
161 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the city of Irvine. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were approximately 161 general civil 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 general civil engineering from University of California - Irvine

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
315 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

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

There were roughly 315 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent data year.

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

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
247 General Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

SDSU is a fairly large public university located in the large city of San Diego. A Best Colleges rank of #185 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were about 247 general civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general civil engineering from San Diego State University

Best General Civil Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 527
Oregon 587 324
Nevada 354 179
Hawaii 267 98
Alaska 167 54

View All Rankings >

General Civil Engineering is one of 5 different types of Civil Engineering programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Structural Engineering 240
Civil Engineering 57
Trasportation Engineering 19
Geoenvironmental Engineering 4

View All General Civil Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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