Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in California (With Aid)

6 Ranked Colleges
244 Degrees Awarded
$25,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Getting Aid

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

General Engineering is the 83rd most popular major in the country with 9,411 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across California, there were 491 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 244 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 6 colleges that offer a degree in general engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent general engineering programs, but they also cost less that 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 general engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank General Engineering Schools

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 Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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 Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in California (With Aid)

#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Davis. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. This large school is located in Davis, California, and it awarded 129 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Davis, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Davis is $14,669 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on General Engineering at UC Davis

#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. This large school is located in Long Beach, California, and it awarded 18 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

CSULB also took the #6 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend CSULB is $9,622 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about General Engineering at CSULB

#3

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California Institute of Technology. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Pasadena, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

Caltech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for Caltech is $24,274 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 1.0% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on General Engineering at Caltech

#4

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, California
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvey Mudd College. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid. Located in Claremont, California, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 68 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

Harvey Mudd College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The yearly cost to attend Harvey Mudd College is $32,727 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Harvey Mudd College General Engineering Report

#5

University of San Diego

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of San Diego landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in San Diego, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 9 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

USD not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $32,460 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students with aid per year to attend University of San Diego.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full USD General Engineering Report

#6

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#4 in overall quality

Santa Clara University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Getting Aid list. Santa Clara University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Santa Clara, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 3 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SCU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. It costs about $38,327 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students with aid per year to attend Santa Clara University.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, 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 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about General Engineering at SCU

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

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 Rémi Kaupp.

Featured Engineering Schools

Find Schools Near You