Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

General Engineering

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in California

6 Ranked Colleges
248 Degrees Awarded
$13,800 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 11,925 people earned their degree in general engineering, making the major the 78th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $66,152 and had an average of $20,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across California, there were 1,382 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $78,483 and $12,706 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 248 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $37,907 and $21,546 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 6 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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 Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in California

#1

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Pasadena, California, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 1 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

Caltech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for California Institute of Technology is $5,456 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on General Engineering at Caltech

#2

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, California

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Harvey Mudd College landed the #2 spot on the list. Harvey Mudd College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Claremont, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 68 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Harvey Mudd College, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Harvey Mudd College is $16,494 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%.

Read full report on General Engineering at Harvey Mudd College

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Davis landed the #3 spot on the list. 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 yearly cost to attend UC Davis is $9,842 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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.

Full University of California - Davis General Engineering Report

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Long Beach, California, this large public school awarded 18 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at CSULB, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $6,364 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend California State University - Long Beach.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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 CSULB General Engineering Report

#5

University of San Diego

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of San Diego. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in San Diego, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 9 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at USD, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for USD is $22,263 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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 University of San Diego General Engineering Report

#6

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#4 in overall quality

Santa Clara University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Santa Clara, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 3 students in 2019-2020.

SCU also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Santa Clara University is $22,356 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Read more about General Engineering at SCU

Switch to a Similar Major

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