30 Best Environmental Engineering schools in California, US

Updated: February 29, 2024

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in California ranked based on their research performance in Environmental Engineering. A graph of 730K citations received by 18.1K academic papers made by 30 universities in California was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. University of California - Berkeley

Berkeley

For Environmental Engineering

#1 in the United States

#1 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 11%
Receiving Aid: 60%
Average Aid: $21,669
Enrollment: 45,307

2. Stanford University

Stanford

For Environmental Engineering

#4 in the United States

#6 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 4%
Average SAT: 1540
Average ACT: 34
Net Price: $18,279

3. University of California - Davis

Davis

For Environmental Engineering

#8 in the United States

#10 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 37%
Receiving Aid: 63%
Average Aid: $20,548
Enrollment: 39,679

4. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles

For Environmental Engineering

#27 in the United States

#32 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 9%
Receiving Aid: 57%
Average Aid: $21,766
Enrollment: 46,430

5. University of California - Riverside

Riverside

For Environmental Engineering

#38 in the United States

#45 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 69%
Receiving Aid: 79%
Average Aid: $22,042
Enrollment: 26,809

6. California Institute of Technology

Pasadena

For Environmental Engineering

#42 in the United States

#51 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 3%
Net Price: $20,755
Receiving Aid: 71%
Average Aid: $59,192

7. University of California - Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

For Environmental Engineering

#46 in the United States

#55 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 26%
Receiving Aid: 59%
Average Aid: $20,389
Enrollment: 26,420

8. University of Southern California

Los Angeles

For Environmental Engineering

#48 in the United States

#57 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 12%
Average SAT: 1500
Average ACT: 34
Net Price: $36,808

9. University of California-San Diego

San Diego

For Environmental Engineering

#51 in the United States

#62 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 24%
Receiving Aid: 61%
Average Aid: $20,782
Enrollment: 42,006

10. University of California - Irvine

Irvine

For Environmental Engineering

#52 in the United States

#63 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 21%
Receiving Aid: 80%
Average Aid: $17,411
Enrollment: 35,937

11. University of California - San Francisco

San Francisco

For Environmental Engineering

#56 in the United States

#68 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 13%
Enrollment: 3,140
Male:Female: 35:65
Founded: 1864

12. University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz

For Environmental Engineering

#123 in the United States

#150 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 47%
Receiving Aid: 74%
Average Aid: $21,202
Enrollment: 19,478

13. San Diego State University

San Diego

For Environmental Engineering

#162 in the United States

#194 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 39%
Receiving Aid: 98%
Average Aid: $9,934
Enrollment: 37,402

14. California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo

For Environmental Engineering

#172 in the United States

#204 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 30%
Receiving Aid: 57%
Average Aid: $10,065
Enrollment: 22,000

15. University of California - Merced

Merced

For Environmental Engineering

#211 in the United States

#246 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 89%
Receiving Aid: 86%
Average Aid: $25,868
Enrollment: 9,103

16. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach

For Environmental Engineering

#233 in the United States

#269 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 40%
Receiving Aid: 80%
Average Aid: $9,478
Enrollment: 38,973

17. San Jose State University

San Jose

For Environmental Engineering

#237 in the United States

#274 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 77%
Receiving Aid: 65%
Average Aid: $9,210
Enrollment: 35,751

18. California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Pomona

For Environmental Engineering

#241 in the United States

#278 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 55%
Receiving Aid: 77%
Average Aid: $9,040
Enrollment: 27,503

19. California State University - Fresno

Fresno

For Environmental Engineering

#250 in the United States

#288 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 95%
Receiving Aid: 89%
Average Aid: $9,968
Enrollment: 23,999

20. Humboldt State University

Arcata

For Environmental Engineering

#255 in the United States

#293 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 98%
Receiving Aid: 76%
Average Aid: $9,262
Enrollment: 6,025

21. Santa Clara University

Santa Clara

For Environmental Engineering

#275 in the United States

#317 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 52%
Average SAT: 1385
Average ACT: 31
Net Price: $50,551

22. San Francisco State University

San Francisco

For Environmental Engineering

#276 in the United States

#318 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 94%
Receiving Aid: 78%
Average Aid: $9,830
Enrollment: 25,282

23. Naval Postgraduate School

Monterey

For Environmental Engineering

#282 in the United States

#324 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 23%
Enrollment: 2,670
Male:Female: 78:22
Founded: 1909

24. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton

For Environmental Engineering

#283 in the United States

#325 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 67%
Receiving Aid: 80%
Average Aid: $9,194
Enrollment: 40,386

25. University of San Francisco

San Francisco

For Environmental Engineering

#291 in the United States

#334 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 71%
Average SAT: 1310
Average ACT: 29
Net Price: $42,953

26. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles

For Environmental Engineering

#303 in the United States

#346 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 87%
Receiving Aid: 92%
Average Aid: $10,907
Enrollment: 26,460

27. California State University - Sacramento

Sacramento

For Environmental Engineering

#304 in the United States

#347 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 93%
Receiving Aid: 82%
Average Aid: $9,590
Enrollment: 31,818

28. California State University - Northridge

Los Angeles

For Environmental Engineering

#313 in the United States

#359 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 91%
Receiving Aid: 85%
Average Aid: $10,511
Enrollment: 37,579

29. California State University - Chico

Chico

For Environmental Engineering

#314 in the United States

#360 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 95%
Receiving Aid: 72%
Average Aid: $9,162
Enrollment: 14,183

30. California State University Maritime Academy

Vallejo

For Environmental Engineering

#319 in the United States

#365 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 96%
Receiving Aid: 62%
Average Aid: $9,529
Enrollment: 849

Closest to California states to learn Environmental Engineering

State	Universities Unis	Best university country rank Best uni rank
Oregon	4	44
Utah	3	47
Arizona	3	16
Idaho	3	119
Washington	4	20
Colorado	6	26
New Mexico	3	87
Montana	3	102
Nebraska	3	67
Kansas	3	76
Texas	27	6
Oklahoma	4	80
North Dakota	2	131
Missouri	6	73
Arkansas	4	112
Louisiana	7	40
Wisconsin	5	15
Illinois	11	2
Mississippi	4	69
Indiana	5	32
Michigan	8	10
Tennessee	5	74
Alabama	7	65
Kentucky	3	70
Ohio	14	23
Georgia	8	22
South Carolina	3	57
North Carolina	10	18
Virginia	8	13
Pennsylvania	16	3
Florida	14	7
District of Columbia	5	104
Maryland	8	24
New York	30	9
New Jersey	7	33
Connecticut	3	19
Massachusetts	15	5
New Hampshire	3	118
Rhode Island	3	109