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Most Popular Engineering Schools in California

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2023 Most Popular Engineering Schools in California

35 Colleges
$72,831 Avg Salary
$20,014 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Engineering 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 Most Popular Engineering 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 35 schools in California to see which programs were the most popular for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Engineering program at each school on the list.

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

Our analysis found University of Southern California to be the most popular school for engineering students who want to pursue a degree in California. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Read full report on Engineering at University of Southern California

Out of the 35 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, San Jose State University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Engineering at San Jose State University Report

Out of the 35 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - San Diego landed the # 3 spot on the list. UCSD is a very large public school located in the city of La Jolla.

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

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Naval Postgraduate School. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools in California list. Naval Postgraduate School is a small public school located in the midsize suburb of Monterey.

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#5

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Out of the 35 schools in California that were part of this year’s ranking, Stanford University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Stanford.

Read full report on Engineering at Stanford University

With a ranking of #6, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a very large student population.

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University of California - Los Angeles ranked #7 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public school with a very large student population.

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

University of California - Irvine ranked #8 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools in California list. Located in the large city of Irvine, UC Irvine is a public school with a very large student population.

Full Engineering at University of California - Irvine Report

University of California - Davis landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular engineering programs. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Davis

With a ranking of #10, University of California - Riverside did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students. Located in the city of Riverside, UCR is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Riverside

Best Engineering Colleges in the Far Western US Region

Explore all the Most Popular 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 25 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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