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2025 Best General Mechanical Engineering Schools in California

27 Colleges in California
5,039 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded
General Mechanical Engineering is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #14 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 27 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for general mechanical engineering students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 5,039 degrees in general mechanical engineering to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great General Mechanical Engineering School

Best General Mechanical Engineering Schools in California The general mechanical engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for General Mechanical Engineering rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for general mechanical engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

General Mechanical Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in General Mechanical Engineering
Master's Degrees in General Mechanical Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in General Mechanical Engineering

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 General Mechanical Engineering Schools in California list to help you make the college 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 General Mechanical 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 general mechanical engineering degree levels they offer.

10 Top California Schools in General Mechanical Engineering

1
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
197 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

Stanford University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in general mechanical engineering. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were approximately 197 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from Stanford University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA
508 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

It's hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you want to pursue a degree in general mechanical engineering. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were about 508 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from University of California - Berkeley

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
12th Most Popular In CA
237 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

It is hard to beat University of Southern California if you wish to pursue a degree in general mechanical engineering. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 237 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from University of Southern California

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
209 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

University of California - Davis is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in general mechanical engineering. UC Davis is a very large public university located in the small suburb of Davis. A Best Colleges rank of #55 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Davis is a great university overall.

There were roughly 209 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from University of California - Davis

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
6th Most Popular In CA
272 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

UCLA is a very large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #28 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 272 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
326 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #73 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Irvine is a great university overall.

There were approximately 326 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Irvine in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from University of California - Irvine

7
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
22nd Most Popular In CA
77 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Santa Clara. A Best Colleges rank of #53 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SCU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 77 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at SCU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from Santa Clara University

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
238 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #49 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were roughly 238 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from University of California - San Diego

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
3rd Most Popular In CA
327 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo. A Best Colleges rank of #165 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a great university overall.

There were approximately 327 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In CA
264 General Mechanical Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of San Diego, SDSU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #185 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means SDSU is a great university overall.

There were about 264 general mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at SDSU in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in general mechanical engineering from San Diego State University

Best General Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 831 1,078
Oregon 587 646
Nevada 354 270
Hawaii 267 90
Alaska 167 66

View All Rankings >

General Mechanical Engineering is one of 0 different types of Mechanical Engineering programs to choose from.

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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