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2024 Best Systems Engineering Schools in California

4 Colleges in California
537 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
$125,714 Avg Early-Career Salary
Systems Engineering isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #160 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 4 schools in California to determine which ones were the best for systems engineering students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 537 degrees in systems engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

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

Choosing a Great Systems Engineering School

Best Systems Engineering Schools in California The systems engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Systems Engineering rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for systems 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.

Pick Your Systems Engineering Degree Level

Master's Degrees in Systems Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Systems 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 Systems Engineering Schools in California list to help you make the college decision. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Systems Engineering in California

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the systems engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.

Top California Schools in Systems Engineering

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
$125,714 Median Starting Salary

University of Southern California is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in systems 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 #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.

There were about 28 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, systems engineering degree recipients usually make an average of $125,714 in their early careers.

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

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In CA

Any student who is interested in systems engineering has to take a look at Loyola Marymount University. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 20th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were about 10 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Marymount in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from Loyola Marymount University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
36 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded

University of California - San Diego is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in systems engineering. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #38 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCSD is a great university overall.

There were about 36 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent year we have data available.

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

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In CA
71.4% Growth in Graduates

California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is a great decision for students interested in a degree in systems engineering. Located in the large suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 65th out of 168 schools for overall quality in the state of California.

There were approximately 7 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cal Poly Pomona in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Best Systems Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Washington 300 0
Oregon 266 10

View All Rankings >

One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Systems Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Systems Engineering Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Systems Engineering 537

View All Systems Engineering Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 5,137
Electrical Engineering 4,697
Computer Engineering 3,389
Civil Engineering 3,198
Biomedical Engineering 1,744
General Engineering 1,386
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,275
Chemical Engineering 1,136
Materials Engineering 497
Industrial Engineering 464

View All Systems Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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