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2025 Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California

5 Colleges in California
135 Doctor's Degrees
If you pursue a doctor's degree in civil engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #29 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 5 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 135 doctor's degrees in civil engineering during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

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

Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California The civil eng doctor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. 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

The overall quality of a doctor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree 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 doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

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 doctor'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 Doctor's Degree Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Civil Engineering in California

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in civil engineering.

Top California Schools for a Doctorate in Civil Eng

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
23 Annual Graduates

Stanford University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in civil engineering. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from Stanford University

2
33 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in civil engineering has to take a look at University of California - Davis. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from University of California - Davis

3
36 Annual Graduates

University of California - Berkeley is a great decision for students pursuing a doctor's degree in civil engineering. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from University of California - Berkeley

4
14 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in civil engineering. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

5
14 Annual Graduates

UC Irvine is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Irvine.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from University of California - Irvine

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 122 31
Oregon 107 21
Nevada 84 15
Hawaii 53 4

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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 117
Structural Engineering 9
Civil Engineering 5
Trasportation Engineering 4

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 350
Mechanical Engineering 219
Biomedical Engineering 193
Chemical Engineering 138
Materials Engineering 105
Computer Engineering 50
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 43
Other Engineering 39
Systems Engineering 16
Environmental Engineering 13

Notes and References

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