2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Science (Income $30-$48k) in California

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Engineering Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 1,668 people earned their degree in engineering science, making the major the 208th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, engineering science graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $60,800 and had an average of $20,111 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 119 engineering science graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,100 and $18,476 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 68 engineering science graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in engineering science. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality engineering science programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the engineering science program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Engineering Science Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Engineering Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Engineering Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree engineering science students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Science (Income $30-$48k) in California

#1

University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley, California

#1 in overall quality

$9,130 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. UC Berkeley is located in Berkeley, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 17 bachelors’s engineering science degrees to qualified students.

UC Berkeley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend University of California - Berkeley is $9,130 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Science students whose families make $30-$48k.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%.

Read more about Engineering Science at UC Berkeley

#2

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, California

#2 in overall quality

$14,680 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo is a large public school situated in San Luis Obispo, California. It awarded 18 bachelors’s engineering science degrees in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $14,680 for california bachelor’s degree engineering science students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Engineering Science at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

#3

California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, California

#3 in overall quality

$3,880 Average Net Price

$56,234 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Engineering Science Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Bakersfield landed the #3 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Bakersfield, California, and it awarded 33 bachelors’s engineering science degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CSUB, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Engineering Science Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $3,880 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Science students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend California State University - Bakersfield.

Read more about Engineering Science at California State University - Bakersfield

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Science (Income $30-$48k) in the Far Western US Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Science (Income $30-$48k)

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 Nicolás Pérez.

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