2025 Best General Engineering Schools in California
8Colleges in California
360Engineering Degrees Awarded
If you pursue a degree in general engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #96 most popular program in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.
College Factual looked at 8 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best General Engineering Schools in California ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 360 degrees in general engineering to qualified students.
Your choice of general engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall General Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
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 General Engineering Schools in California list to help you make the college decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for General Engineering in California
The schools below may not offer all types of engineering degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.
It's hard to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you wish to pursue a degree in general engineering. UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 72 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.
It is difficult to beat Harvey Mudd College if you wish to pursue a degree in general engineering. Located in the suburb of Claremont, Harvey Mudd College is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #36 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Harvey Mudd College is a great college overall.
There were approximately 51 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at Harvey Mudd College in the most recent year we have data available.
Santa Clara University is a great decision for students pursuing a degree in general engineering. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Santa Clara. A Best Colleges rank of #53 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 4 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent year we have data available.
It is difficult to beat University of California - Riverside if you want to pursue a degree in general engineering. UCR is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Riverside. A Best Colleges rank of #219 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCR is a great university overall.
There were approximately 46 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCR in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Fresno, Fresno State is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 81st out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 17 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at Fresno State in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of San Francisco, SFSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 30th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 28 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at SFSU in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large city of San Diego, USD is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 35th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were approximately 18 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at USD in the most recent data year.
Located in the large city of Stockton, Pacific is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 43rd out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 32 general engineering students who graduated with this degree at Pacific in the most recent year we have data available.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Rémi Kaupp.
Your choice of general engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall General Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
