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Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in California

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

22 Colleges
$20,214 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$73,918 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Mechanical Engineering 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 22 schools in California to see which programs offered the best value experiences for ME 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. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in California

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

Top 10 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools

$10,195 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo the best value school in California for mechanical engineering students. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo undergraduate students pay an average of $10,195 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also is in the top 15% of our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in California ranking.

Full Mechanical Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo Report

$7,852 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at San Jose State University helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best mechanical engineering schools in California. San Jose State is a very large public school located in the city of San Jose.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at San Jose State are $7,852 a year.

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

Full Mechanical 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 #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best mechanical engineering schools in California. UCLA 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 UCLA are $13,258 a year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UCLA also did well on our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in California list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles Report

$7,439 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means California State Polytechnic University - Pomona is a great value for mechanical engineering students. Located in the suburb of Pomona, Cal Poly Pomona is a public school with a very large student population.

Cal Poly Pomona undergraduate students pay an average of $7,439 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

$14,226 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in California list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the city of Berkeley.

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

UC Berkeley did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in California list.

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

#6

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA
$8,136 Average Tuition & Fees

San Diego State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for mechanical engineering students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of San Diego, SDSU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

SDSU undergraduate students pay an average of $8,136 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at San Diego State University

$6,846 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Long Beach ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in California list. CSULB is a very large public school located in the city of Long Beach.

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

Full Mechanical Engineering at California State University - Long Beach Report

$14,417 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - Santa Barbara came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in California ranking. UCSB is a fairly large public school located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara.

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

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

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of California - Santa Barbara Report

$14,700 Average Tuition & Fees

University of California - San Diego did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for mechanical engineering students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public college with a very large student population.

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

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

$7,043 Average Tuition & Fees

California State University - Northridge landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value mechanical engineering programs. Located in the city of Northridge, CSUN is a public school with a fairly large student population.

CSUN undergraduate students pay an average of $7,043 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

Best Value Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value 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.

  • 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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