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2025 Best Materials Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California

6 Colleges in California
177 Bachelor's Degrees
$68,928 Avg Early-Career Salary
Materials Engineering is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #145 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 6 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for materials engineering students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 177 bachelor's degrees in materials engineering during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Materials Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Materials Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California The materials engineering bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality materials engineering program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for materials engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Materials Engineering Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Materials Engineering Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Materials Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in California list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Materials Engineering in California

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for materials engineering students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

Top California Schools for a Bachelor's in Materials Engineering

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
12 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Stanford University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in materials engineering. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in materials engineering from Stanford University

2
29 Annual Graduates

University of California - Los Angeles is a good option for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in materials engineering. UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a bachelor’s in materials engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

3

It's difficult to beat California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in materials engineering. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Those materials engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo receive $5,568 more than the standard materials engineering student.

More information about a bachelor’s in materials engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

4

University of California - Irvine is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in materials engineering. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduation, materials engineering bachelor's recipients generally make about $58,177 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in materials engineering from University of California - Irvine

5

UC Davis is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Davis.

Materials Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Davis get an earnings boost of around $5,182 above the typical income of materials engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in materials engineering from University of California - Davis

6
19 Annual Graduates

UCR is a very large public university located in the city of Riverside.More information about a bachelor’s in materials engineering from University of California - Riverside

Best Materials Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Materials Engineering Schools in the Far Western US Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 226 76
Nevada 129 14

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Materials Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Materials Engineering Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Materials Engineering 177

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 3,722
Electrical Engineering 2,314
Computer Engineering 2,214
Civil Engineering 2,049
Biomedical Engineering 998
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 899
Chemical Engineering 764
Industrial Engineering 277
Environmental Engineering 234
Other Engineering 178

Notes and References

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