2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
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 $48-$75k” ranking analyzed 6 colleges that offered 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.
When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the general engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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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 Making $48-$75k” list to help you make the college decision.
You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our 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 $48-$75k
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k.
Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in California
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Harvey Mudd College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. Harvey Mudd College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Claremont, California. It awarded 68 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $48-$75k list, Harvey Mudd College has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Harvey Mudd College is $14,210 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.
The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. 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 $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #2 spot on the list. 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. It costs about $8,042 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Caltech.
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%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k 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.
UC Davis did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Davis is $13,578 for california bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. 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%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend California State University - Long Beach. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k. California State University - Long Beach is located in Long Beach, California and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 18 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
CSULB also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $10,807 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend CSULB.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.
Read full report on General Engineering at California State University - Long Beach
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Santa Clara University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in Santa Clara, California, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 3 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students 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. The yearly cost to attend SCU is $24,848 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.
University of San Diego landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in California For Those Making $48-$75k ranking. USD is a private not-for-profit institution located in San Diego, California. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
USD also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in California” list, coming in at #5. The yearly cost to attend University of San Diego is $25,727 for California Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in the Far Western US Region
- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $48-$75k)
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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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