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Best Value Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California

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2023 Best Value Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

6 Colleges
$27,802 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$80,505 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering Graduate Certificate 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California ranking. Our analysis looked at 6 schools in California to see which graduate certificate 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 Graduate Certificate Schools in California

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for engineering majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Best California Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Engineering

Our 2023 rankings named San Jose State University the best value school in California for engineering students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at San Jose State are $9,286 per year.

Read full report on Engineering at San Jose State University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public school with a very large student population.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo graduate students pay an average of $11,629 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.

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

#3

San Diego State University

San Diego, CA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend San Diego State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. SDSU is a fairly large public school located in the city of San Diego.

SDSU graduate students pay an average of $9,570 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#4

Loyola Marymount University

Los Angeles, CA

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Loyola Marymount University is a great value for engineering students working on their graduate certificate. Loyola Marymount is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loyola Marymount are $19,922 per year.

Full Engineering at Loyola Marymount University Report

#5

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Stanford University is a great value for engineering students working on their graduate certificate. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Stanford are $55,011 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Stanford is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California list.

Read full report on Engineering at Stanford University

University of Southern California ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Graduate Certificate Schools in California list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at USC are $61,396 per year.

Read More…

Best Value Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Best Value Engineering Schools 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 6 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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