This article features top engineering colleges in California that offer master and doctoral degrees in the fields of biological engineering, chemical engineering, computer science, materials engineering, mechanical engineering, etc. Please be informed that each school receives national wide rank as the ranking compares all engineering schools in the United States. Some important ranking factors include average GRE scores, alumni surveys, current student interviews, institutional research publications, and peer college assessment. In the following list of best engineering schools in the state of California, you can see tuition cost for both in-state and out-of-state students, acceptable rates and admissions statistics for each top ranked engineering college.
| National Ranking | California Top Engineering Programs |
| 2 | Stanford University (Stanford, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 22.2% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 785 Tuition: Full-time: $42,660 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 3,564 Research expenditures per faculty member: $909,720 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $197,409,327 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 17.6% |
| 3 | University of California–Berkeley (Berkeley, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 14.4% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 782 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $11,220 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $26,322 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 1,882 Research expenditures per faculty member: $759,699 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $186,886,000 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 16.7% |
| 5 | California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 9.0% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 800 Tuition: Full-time: $36,387 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 577 Research expenditures per faculty member: $918,113 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $84,466,405 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 14.3% |
| 13 | University of Southern California (Viterbi) (Los Angeles, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 30.7% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 765 Tuition: Full-time: $27,234 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 4,251 Research expenditures per faculty member: $990,839 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $168,442,795 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 10.3% |
| 14 | University of California–San Diego (Jacobs) (La Jolla, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 23.1% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 775 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $0 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $14,694 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 1,493 Research expenditures per faculty member: $804,533 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $146,425,021 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 11.0% |
| 16 | University of California–Los Angeles (Samueli) (Los Angeles, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 30.7% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 771 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $12,562 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $27,664 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 1,845 Research expenditures per faculty member: $648,254 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $100,479,387 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 14.9% |
| 22 | University of California–Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 23.4% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 775 Tuition: Out-of-state, full-time: $15,102 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 753 Research expenditures per faculty member: $783,203 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $102,599,610 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 12.8% |
| 33 | University of California–Davis (Davis, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 24.4% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 758 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $15,271 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $30,373 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 1,252 Research expenditures per faculty member: $422,710 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $79,469,487 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 6.7% |
| 39 | University of California–Irvine (Samueli) (Irvine, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 23.4% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 766 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $13,321 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $28,423 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 1,200 Research expenditures per faculty member: $471,511 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $82,986,000 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 3.3% |
| 64 | University of California–Riverside (Bourns) (Riverside, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 24.2% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 753 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $0 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $15,102 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 520 Research expenditures per faculty member: $424,488 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $35,657,073 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 2.4% |
| 87 | University of California–Santa Cruz (Baskin) (Santa Cruz, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 29.3% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 745 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $11,220 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $26,322 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 364 Research expenditures per faculty member: $393,568 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $31,091,872 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 1.3% |
| 138 | California State University–Long Beach (Long Beach, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 61.1% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 741 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $7,506 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $14,202 per year Total graduate engineering enrollment: 696 Research expenditures per faculty member: $50,632 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $4,000,000 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 0.0% |
| 139 | Santa Clara University (Santa Clara, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 50.7% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 728 Tuition: Full-time: $770 per credit Total graduate engineering enrollment: 741 Research expenditures per faculty member: $52,000 Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): $1,768,010 Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 0.0% |
| 166 | San Diego State University (San Diego, CA) Overall acceptance rate: 46.7% Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): 691 Tuition: In-state, full-time: $7,844 per year, Out-of-state, full-time: $372 per credit Total graduate engineering enrollment: 301 Research expenditures per faculty member: N/A Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): N/A Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: 0.0% |
| 197 | Naval Postgraduate School (Monterey, CA) Overall acceptance rate: N/A Average GRE quantitative score (master’s and Ph.D. students): N/A Tuition: N/A Total graduate engineering enrollment: N/A Research expenditures per faculty member: N/A Engineering school research expenditures (2010-2011 fiscal year): N/A Faculty membership in National Academy of Engineering: N/A |