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2022 Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

6 Ranked Colleges
50 Degrees Awarded
Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $48-$75k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Engineering & Applied Physics is the 440th most popular major in the country with 941 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 124 engineering and applied physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 50 engineering and applied physics graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer a degree in engineering and applied physics. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great engineering and applied physics programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the engineering and applied physics program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering & Applied Physics (Income $48-$75k) in California

#1

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. California Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Pasadena, California. It awarded 3 bachelors’s applied physics degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Caltech, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for California Institute of Technology is $8,042 for california bachelor’s degree applied physics students whose families make $48-$75k.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Engineering & Applied Physics at California Institute of Technology

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. University of California - Berkeley is a large school located in Berkeley, California that handed out 11 bachelors’s applied physics degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #2 spot in our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Berkeley is $13,081 for california bachelor’s degree applied physics students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Engineering & Applied Physics at University of California - Berkeley

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - San Diego. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. University of California - San Diego is a large public school situated in La Jolla, California. It awarded 2 bachelors’s applied physics degrees in 2019-2020.

UCSD did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - San Diego is $14,071 for california bachelor’s degree applied physics students whose families make $48-$75k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of California - San Diego Engineering & Applied Physics Report

#4

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Santa Clara University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Santa Clara, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 6 degrees to qualified bachelors’s applied physics students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SCU, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for SCU is $24,848 for california bachelor’s degree applied physics students whose families make $48-$75k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Santa Clara University Engineering & Applied Physics Report

#5

University of the Pacific

Stockton, California
#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of the Pacific. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. University of the Pacific is a medium-sized school located in Stockton, California that handed out 2 bachelors’s applied physics degrees in 2019-2020.

Pacific did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Pacific is $26,047 for california bachelor’s degree applied physics students whose families make $48-$75k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of the Pacific Engineering & Applied Physics Report

#6

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, California
#4 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, Loyola Marymount University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Applied Physics Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. This medium-sized school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s applied physics degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Loyola Marymount, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Engineering & Applied Physics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Loyola Marymount University is $34,284 for california bachelor’s degree applied physics students whose families make $48-$75k.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low student loan default rate of 1.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Full Loyola Marymount Engineering & Applied Physics Report

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Notes and References

References

  • 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 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).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to NASA.

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