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Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

10 Colleges
$20,939 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$59,066 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Materials Engineering School for You

Materials Engineering is the #67 most popular major in California with 308 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

The Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for materials engineering 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 Materials Engineering Schools in California

Check out the materials engineering programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Materials Engineering Schools

$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found San Jose State University to be the best value school for materials engineering students who want to pursue a degree in California. Located in the city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, San Jose State also is in the top 20% of our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking.

Full Materials Engineering at San Jose State University Report

$13,258 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - Los Angeles helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best materials engineering schools in California. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UCLA undergraduate students pay an average of $13,258 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UCLA also is in the top 10% of our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles

$14,700 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of California - San Diego helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best materials engineering schools in California. UCSD is a very large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

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

Full Materials Engineering at University of California - San Diego Report

$7,043 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State University - Northridge is a great value for materials engineering students. CSUN is a very large public school located in the city of Northridge.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at CSUN are $7,043 per year.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at California State University - Northridge

$14,645 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of California - Davis is a great value for materials engineering students. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Davis are $14,645 a year.

Full Materials Engineering at University of California - Davis Report

$13,775 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for materials engineering students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Irvine are $13,775 a year.

Read More…

$6,785 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Los Angeles landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value materials engineering programs. Cal State LA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Cal State LA are $6,785 a year.

Read More…

#8

Stanford University

Stanford, CA
$56,169 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for materials engineering students. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Stanford are $56,169 a year.

Stanford also took the #1 spot in our Best Materials Engineering Schools in California rankings.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at Stanford University

$13,657 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Merced came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in California ranking. UC Merced is a moderately-sized public school located in the rural area of Merced.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UC Merced are $13,657 a year.

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

$61,503 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #10, University of Southern California did quite well on this year’s best value schools for materials engineering students. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at USC are $61,503 per year.

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

Full Materials Engineering at University of Southern California Report

Best Value Materials Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 59
Oregon 14
Nevada 2

One of 39 majors within the area of study, materials 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 10 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 Panoramedia.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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