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Most Popular Mechanical Engineering Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Mechanical Engineering Schools in California

24 Colleges
$73,918 Avg Salary
$19,735 Avg Student Debt

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 Most Popular Mechanical Engineering Schools in California ranking. This report analyzed 24 schools in California to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Mechanical Engineering program at each school on the list.

Check out the ME programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in California.

#1

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Our analysis found Stanford University to be the most popular school for mechanical engineering students who want to pursue a degree in California. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University Report

Out of the 24 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the # 2 spot on the list. UC Berkeley is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley.

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Out of the 24 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Diego landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of California - San Diego Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Southern California is a great place for mechanical engineering students. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of Southern California Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Popular Mechanical Engineering Schools in California list. UCLA is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Los Angeles.

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

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for mechanical engineering students. It came in at #6 on the list. UC Irvine is a very large public school located in the large city of Irvine.

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With a ranking of #7, San Jose State University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for mechanical engineering students. San Jose State is a fairly large public school located in the large city of San Jose.

Full Mechanical Engineering at San Jose State University Report

University of California - Davis landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular mechanical engineering programs. UC Davis is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Davis.

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

With a ranking of #9, Naval Postgraduate School did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for mechanical engineering students. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Monterey, Naval Postgraduate School is a public college with a small student population.

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University of California - Riverside came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Mechanical Engineering Schools in California ranking. UCR is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Riverside.

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

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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 24 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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