2025 Best Civil Engineering Schools in California

If you're seeking a degree in civil engineering, you will have fewer peers than average since the major degree program is the #908 one in the country in terms of popularity.This may make is a little harder to find a school that is a good fit for you.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Civil Engineering Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 57 degrees in civil engineering to qualified students.

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

• Best Overall Civil Engineering Schools List

Pick Your Civil Engineering Degree Level

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best 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 Civil Engineering in California

The schools below may not offer all types of civil engineering degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

Top California Schools in Civil Engineering

1

University of California - Davis
Davis, CA

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

22.2% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Davis is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in civil engineering. UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Davis.More information about a degree in civil engineering from University of California - Davis

2

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, CA

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

45 Civil Engineering Degrees Awarded

6.7% Growth in Graduates

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is a good decision for students interested in a degree in civil engineering. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.More information about a degree in civil engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

Best Civil Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Washington	831	9

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Civil Engineering

One of 5 majors within the Civil Engineering area of study, Civil Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Majors Similar to Civil Engineering

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Civil Engineering	2,949
Structural Engineering	240
Trasportation Engineering	19
Geoenvironmental Engineering	4

View All Civil Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.

More about our data sources and methodologies.