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2025 Best Electrical Engineering Schools in California

28 Colleges in California
4,174 EE Degrees Awarded
$83,097 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #39 in popularity, electrical engineering is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 28 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Electrical Engineering Schools in California ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 4,174 degrees in electrical engineering annually.

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

Choosing a Great Electrical Engineering School

Best Electrical Engineering Schools in California Your choice of electrical engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Electrical 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.

Electrical Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in EE
Master's Degrees in EE
Doctor's Degrees in EE

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Electrical 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 Electrical 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 ee degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in EE

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
833 EE Degrees Awarded
12.4% Growth in Graduates

University of California - Berkeley is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in electrical engineering. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 833 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the electrical engineering degree program at University of California - Berkeley make $54,198 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

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

2
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
206 EE Degrees Awarded
$159,472 Median Starting Salary

Stanford University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 206 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year. Those electrical engineering students who get their degree from Stanford University make $76,375 more than the average ee graduate.

More information about a degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
305 EE Degrees Awarded
$111,414 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in electrical engineering needs to look into University of Southern California. USC is a fairly 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 305 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Those electrical engineering students who get their degree from University of Southern California earn $28,317 more than the typical ee grad.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
338 EE Degrees Awarded
$95,669 Median Starting Salary

University of California - Los Angeles is a good option for students pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. 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 about 338 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Those electrical engineering students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles earn $12,572 more than the average ee grad.

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

5
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
28th Most Popular In CA

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

There were about 12 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in electrical engineering from Santa Clara University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
340 EE Degrees Awarded
$85,955 Median Starting Salary

UCSD is a very large public university located in the large city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were approximately 340 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the electrical engineering major at University of California - San Diego get $2,858 more than the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

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

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
19th Most Popular In CA
163 EE Degrees Awarded

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 163 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available.

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

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
167 EE Degrees Awarded
3.6% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a very 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 167 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the electrical engineering degree program at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo make $7,479 more than the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

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

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
138 EE Degrees Awarded
$80,412 Median Starting Salary

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 roughly 138 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent data year. After graduation, ee degree recipients usually make about $80,412 in the first five years of their career.

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

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
122 EE Degrees Awarded
$80,827 Median Starting Salary

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

There were roughly 122 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the ee program make around $80,827 in their early career salary.

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

Best Electrical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 842
Oregon 266 359
Nevada 192 105
Hawaii 164 69
Alaska 119 32

View All Rankings >

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

EE Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 4,089
Other Electrical Engineering 85

View All EE Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 5,039
Civil Engineering 3,269
Computer Engineering 3,190
Biomedical Engineering 1,706
General Engineering 1,360
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,357
Chemical Engineering 1,163
Systems Engineering 498
Materials Engineering 488
Other Engineering 476

View All EE Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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