2025 Best Materials Engineering Schools in California
9
Colleges in California
488
Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$75,977
Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in
materials engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #154 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for materials engineering students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 488 degrees in materials engineering annually.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Materials Engineering School
Your choice of materials engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall Materials Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Materials Engineering Rankings by Degree Level
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.
Best Schools for Materials Engineering in California
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the materials engineering degree levels they offer.
Top California Schools in Materials Engineering
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
2nd
Most Popular In CA
96
Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in materials engineering. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were roughly 96 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in materials engineering from Stanford University
Master's Degree
Highest Degree Type
7th
Most Popular In CA
Every student who is interested in materials engineering needs to check out University of Southern California. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were about 18 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of Southern California
University of California - Los Angeles is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in materials engineering. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.
There were approximately 78 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent year we have data available. Materials Engineering degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles get an earnings boost of approximately $22,177 above the average income of materials engineering graduates.
More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of California - Los Angeles
Doctor's Degree
Highest Degree Type
3rd
Most Popular In CA
53
Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
University of California - San Diego is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in materials engineering. UCSD is a very large public university located in the large city of La Jolla. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.
There were approximately 53 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year.
More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of California - San Diego
Located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 22nd out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 48 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the materials engineering program earn about $74,496 for their early career.
More information about a degree in materials engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo
