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Best Value Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

11 Colleges
$22,439 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$111,936 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering Doctor's Degree School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, engineering was ranked 4th in California. In fact, 9,121 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best 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 Engineering Doctor's Degree 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 11 schools in California to see which doctor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for engineering students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Engineering Doctor's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of California - Berkeley the best value school in California for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UC Berkeley are $14,160 a year.

UC Berkeley not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

Read More…

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

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UCLA are $13,036 per year.

UCLA excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list.

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

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Santa Barbara helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value engineering schools in California. Located in the midsize suburb of Santa Barbara, UCSB is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSB are $13,581 a year.

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Out of the 11 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Diego landed the # 4 spot on the list. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UCSD are $13,564 a year.

Full Engineering at University of California - San Diego Report

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at University of California - Davis helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value engineering schools in California. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.

UC Davis graduate students pay an average of $13,608 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Engineering at University of California - Davis Report

University of California - Irvine did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Irvine are $13,356 per year.

Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Irvine

#7

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara, CA

Santa Clara University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in California list. SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Santa Clara.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SCU are $25,170 a year.

Full Engineering at Santa Clara University Report

University of California - Riverside did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #8 on the 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 graduate student at UCR are $13,467 a year.

Read More…

University of California - Merced did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. UC Merced is a medium-sized public school located in the rural area of Merced.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UC Merced are $13,207 per year.

Full Engineering at University of California - Merced Report

#10

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

Stanford graduate students pay an average of $55,011 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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

Read full report on Engineering at Stanford University

Best Value Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Washington 939
Oregon 555
Nevada 169
Hawaii 63
Alaska 32

Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 11,021
Mechanical Engineering 9,007
Civil Engineering 6,042
Computer Engineering 5,557
Biomedical Engineering 4,252
General Engineering 3,548
Systems Engineering 3,068
Industrial Engineering 3,028
Chemical Engineering 2,662
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 2,375
Other Engineering 1,820
Materials Engineering 1,810
Operations Research 1,191
Electrical and Computer Engineering. 928
Environmental Engineering 919
Robotics Engineering 560
Engineering Science 451
Nuclear Engineering 437
Manufacturing Engineering 423
Petroleum Engineering 401
Agricultural Engineering 332
Construction Engineering 288
Engineering Physics 286
Architectural Engineering 243
Geoscience Engineering 173
Polymer & Plastics Engineering 167
Engineering Mechanics 144
Mining Engineering 132
Ocean Engineering 112
Textile Engineering 96
Biological Engineering 80
Energy Systems Engineering 79
Marine Engineering 44
Metallurgical Engineering 40
Biochemical Engineering 21
Ceramic Engineering 20
Electromechanical Engineering 16
Surveying Engineering 11
Paper Science & Engineering 7

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 28,851
Mathematics & Statistics 15,127
Physical Sciences 12,705
Engineering Technologies 7,672

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 Petty Officer 3rd Class Declan Barnes.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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