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Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California

22 Colleges
$83,900 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree School for You

With 1,202 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, mechanical engineering is the #23 most popular major in California.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in California to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 22 schools in California to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our 2023 rankings named Stanford University the best school in California for mechanical engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University

#2

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Out of the 22 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Santa Clara University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the midsize city of Santa Clara, SCU is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Santa Clara University

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of California - Berkeley is a great place for mechanical engineering students working on their master’s degree. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

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

Out of the 22 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo landed the # 4 spot on the list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of California - Los Angeles is a great place for mechanical engineering students working on their master’s degree. UCLA is a very large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles Report

University of Southern California landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree mechanical engineering programs. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

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University of California - San Diego did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of California - San Diego

#8

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

With a ranking of #8, Loyola Marymount University did quite well on this year’s best schools for mechanical engineering students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Los Angeles, Loyola Marymount is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Loyola Marymount University Report

University of California - Santa Barbara did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. UCSB is a very large public school located in the suburb of Santa Barbara.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

With a ranking of #10, University of California - Davis did quite well on this year’s best schools for mechanical engineering students working on their master’s degree. UC Davis is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.

Read More…

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 196
Oregon 86
Nevada 20
Hawaii 15
Alaska 7

Mechanical Engineering is one of 39 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to ME

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 11,021
Civil Engineering 6,042
Computer Engineering 5,557
Biomedical Engineering 4,252
General Engineering 3,548

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 22 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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 Michel Villeneuve.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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