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Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$21,013 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$58,086 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Chemical Engineering School for You

With 264 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, chemical engineering is the #72 most popular major in California.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 11 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for chem eng students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Chemical Engineering Colleges.

Top 10 Best Chemical Engineering Schools

$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named San Jose State University the best value school in California for chemical engineering students. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at San Jose State are $7,852 per year.

San Jose State also claimed a spot on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Full Chemical Engineering at San Jose State University Report

$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Los Angeles. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCLA are $13,258 a year.

UCLA excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California list.

Full Chemical Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles Report

$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Santa Barbara. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCSB are $14,417 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCSB also did well on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read More…

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Berkeley. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

UC Berkeley undergraduate students pay an average of $14,226 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UC Berkeley is ranked #3 for overall quality for chem eng in California.

Read full report on Chemical Engineering at University of California - Berkeley

$14,700 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - San Diego helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best chemical engineering schools in California. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

UCSD undergraduate students pay an average of $14,700 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Davis landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value chemical engineering programs. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UC Davis undergraduate students pay an average of $14,645 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Chemical Engineering at University of California - Davis Report

$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Long Beach ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the city of Long Beach, CSULB is a public college with a fairly large student population.

CSULB undergraduate students pay an average of $6,846 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Chemical Engineering at California State University - Long Beach Report

$13,775 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for chemical engineering students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UC Irvine are $13,775 per year.

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

$13,754 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Riverside ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UCR are $13,754 a year.

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#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA
$56,169 Average Tuition & Fees

Stanford University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in California list. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Stanford are $56,169 per year.

Stanford not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in California list.

Read More…

Best Value Chemical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 61
Oregon 25
Nevada 2

One of 39 majors within the area of study, chemical engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 11,021
Mechanical Engineering 9,007
Civil Engineering 6,042
Computer Engineering 5,557
Biomedical Engineering 4,252

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Mikulova.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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