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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k

6 Ranked Colleges
248 Degrees Awarded
$14,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in California For Those Making $30-$48k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 $30-$48k” ranking analyzed 6 colleges that offered a degree in general engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general engineering 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 Engineering 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.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Engineering 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 students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in California

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Davis. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. Located in Davis, California, this large public school awarded 129 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k list, UC Davis has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Davis is $10,769 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

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 more about General Engineering at University of California - Davis

#2

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 #2 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k. Caltech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pasadena, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees 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. It costs about $3,756 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend California Institute of Technology.

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 excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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 Caltech

#3

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, California

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvey Mudd College. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k. Claremont, California is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 68 students in 2019-2020.

Harvey Mudd College also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend Harvey Mudd College is $23,234 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. 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

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, California State University - Long Beach landed the #4 spot on the list. CSULB is a large school located in Long Beach, California that handed out 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 estimated yearly cost for CSULB is $7,595 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. 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 CSULB General Engineering Report

#5

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, California
#4 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 #5 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Santa Clara, California. It awarded 3 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SCU, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. It costs about $18,949 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Santa Clara University.

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 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on General Engineering at Santa Clara University

#6

University of San Diego

San Diego, California
#5 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, University of San Diego did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $30-$48k list. This medium-sized school is located in San Diego, California, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s engineering degrees 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 $23,224 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

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

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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 Rémi Kaupp.

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