Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Materials Engineering

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

12 Ranked Colleges
277 Degrees Awarded
$15,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2019-2020, 3,485 people earned their degree in materials engineering, making the major the 150th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, materials engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $63,129 and had an average of $23,918 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Far Western US region, there were 677 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,400 and $17,784 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 277 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,083 and $22,209 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 12 colleges that offer a degree in materials engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent materials engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the materials 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 Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid” 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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid.

Top 12 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Washington - Seattle Campus. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid. Located in Seattle, Washington, this large public school handed out 52 degrees to qualified bachelors’s materials engineering students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid list, UW Seattle has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UW Seattle is $13,297 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Materials Engineering at UW Seattle

#2

Stanford University

Stanford, California
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the #2 spot on the list. Stanford University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Stanford, California. It awarded 8 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid list, Stanford has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. It costs about $11,496 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students with aid per year to attend Stanford.

The student loan default rate at the school is 0.5%, 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 86%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 4 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Materials Engineering at Stanford University

#3

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California
#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid list. UCLA is a large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 23 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. It costs about $14,279 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students with aid per year to attend UCLA.

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 96%.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at UCLA

#6 in overall quality

Out of the 12 schools in the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Irvine landed the #4 spot on the list. UC Irvine is a large public school situated in Irvine, California. It awarded 30 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Irvine not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UC Irvine is $14,783 for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 1.3% 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 freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of California - Irvine

#10 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Riverside. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid list. UCR is a large school located in Riverside, California that handed out 14 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UCR not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #10 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. It costs about $12,871 for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid per year to attend UCR.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of California - Riverside

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Located in San Luis Obispo, California, this large public school handed out 38 degrees to qualified bachelors’s materials engineering students in 2019-2020.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. It costs about $21,595 for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid per year to attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Materials Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

#7

San Jose State University

San Jose, California
#7 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, San Jose State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid list. San Jose State is a large public school situated in San Jose, California. It awarded 22 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

San Jose State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The yearly cost to attend San Jose State is $14,928 for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full San Jose State University Materials Engineering Report

University of California - Davis landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Davis, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to 38 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid list, UC Davis has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of California - Davis is $14,669 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low student loan default rate of 1.9% 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 Materials Engineering at University of California - Davis

#9

Washington State University

Pullman, Washington

Washington State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #9. Wazzu is located in Pullman, Washington and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 31 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid list, Wazzu has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Wazzu is $16,358 for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at Washington State University

#11 in overall quality

With a ranking of #10, University of Nevada - Reno did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid list. University of Nevada - Reno is located in Reno, Nevada and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid list, UNR has also earned the #11 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” ranking. It costs about $15,081 for Far Western US Region Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students with aid per year to attend UNR.

Full UNR Materials Engineering Report

#11

California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, California
#2 in overall quality

California Institute of Technology did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #11. Caltech is located in Pasadena, California and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to qualified students.

Caltech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Caltech is $24,274 for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid.

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%. 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 impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at Caltech

#12 in overall quality

University of California - Merced landed the #12 spot on the 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Far Western US Region For Those Getting Aid ranking. Merced, California is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s materials engineering degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.

UC Merced also made our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region” list, coming in at #12. It costs about $13,896 for far western us region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students with aid per year to attend UC Merced.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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 Materials Engineering at UC Merced

Switch to a Similar Major

General Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for General Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Agricultural Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Agricultural Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Biomedical Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Biomedical Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Civil Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Civil Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Electrical Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Electrical Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Engineering Science
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Engineering Science in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Mechanical Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Mining Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Mining Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Petroleum Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Petroleum Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Construction Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Construction Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Industrial Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Industrial Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Operations Research
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Operations Research in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Robotics Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Robotics Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Electrical and Computer Engineering. in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Architectural Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Architectural Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Chemical Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Chemical Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Computer Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Computer Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Engineering Physics
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Engineering Physics in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Environmental Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Environmental Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Metallurgical Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Metallurgical Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Nuclear Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Nuclear Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Polymer & Plastics Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Polymer & Plastics Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Forest Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Forest Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Manufacturing Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Manufacturing Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Geoscience Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Geoscience Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Biological Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Biological Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

Other Engineering
Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Other Engineering in the Far Western US Region (With Aid)

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 Panoramedia.

Featured Engineering Schools

Find Schools Near You