27 Best colleges for Transportation Engineering in California, US

Updated: March 15, 2026

Ranking by academic field

Below is a list of best universities in California ranked based on their research performance in Transportation Engineering. A graph of 657K citations received by 15.4K academic papers made by 27 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 Transportation Engineering

#1 in the United States

#1 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 11%
Receiving Aid: 63%
Average Aid: $29,608
Enrollment: 45,882

2. University of California - Davis

Davis

For Transportation Engineering

#9 in the United States

#10 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 42%
Receiving Aid: 65%
Average Aid: $24,591
Enrollment: 40,065

3. University of California - Irvine

Irvine

For Transportation Engineering

#15 in the United States

#17 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 29%
Receiving Aid: 61%
Average Aid: $23,110
Enrollment: 37,297

4. Stanford University

Stanford

For Transportation Engineering

#16 in the United States

#19 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 4%
Average SAT: 1545
Average ACT: 35
Net Price: $25,078

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles

For Transportation Engineering

#18 in the United States

#21 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 10%
Average SAT: 1500
Average ACT: 34
Net Price: $43,412

6. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles

For Transportation Engineering

#27 in the United States

#30 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 9%
Receiving Aid: 59%
Average Aid: $25,627
Enrollment: 47,335

7. University of California-San Diego

San Diego

For Transportation Engineering

#44 in the United States

#49 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 27%
Receiving Aid: 66%
Average Aid: $25,757
Enrollment: 44,256

8. University of California - Riverside

Riverside

For Transportation Engineering

#46 in the United States

#54 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 76%
Receiving Aid: 80%
Average Aid: $24,355
Enrollment: 26,384

9. California Institute of Technology

Pasadena

For Transportation Engineering

#49 in the United States

#58 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 3%
Net Price: $14,513
Receiving Aid: 70%
Average Aid: $72,373

10. University of California - Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara

For Transportation Engineering

#71 in the United States

#84 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 33%
Receiving Aid: 61%
Average Aid: $24,695
Enrollment: 26,133

11. University of California - Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz

For Transportation Engineering

#76 in the United States

#89 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 66%
Receiving Aid: 64%
Average Aid: $22,774
Enrollment: 19,938

12. San Jose State University

San Jose

For Transportation Engineering

#83 in the United States

#97 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 85%
Receiving Aid: 69%
Average Aid: $12,353
Enrollment: 37,661

13. San Diego State University

San Diego

For Transportation Engineering

#107 in the United States

#129 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 36%
Receiving Aid: 62%
Average Aid: $12,053
Enrollment: 41,137

14. California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo

For Transportation Engineering

#111 in the United States

#133 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 31%
Receiving Aid: 62%
Average Aid: $14,338
Enrollment: 23,069

15. University of California - San Francisco

San Francisco

For Transportation Engineering

#118 in the United States

#140 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 13%
Enrollment: 3,007
Male:Female: 36:64
Founded: 1864

16. Naval Postgraduate School

Monterey

For Transportation Engineering

#154 in the United States

#184 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 23%
Enrollment: 2,441
Male:Female: 79:21
Founded: 1909

17. California State Polytechnic University - Pomona

Pomona

For Transportation Engineering

#159 in the United States

#189 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 75%
Receiving Aid: 80%
Average Aid: $11,833
Enrollment: 27,636

18. California State University Maritime Academy

Vallejo

For Transportation Engineering

#176 in the United States

#209 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 95%
Receiving Aid: 68%
Average Aid: $11,038
Enrollment: 837

19. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach

For Transportation Engineering

#184 in the United States

#217 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 46%
Receiving Aid: 82%
Average Aid: $11,795
Enrollment: 42,003

20. San Francisco State University

San Francisco

For Transportation Engineering

#189 in the United States

#222 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 96%
Receiving Aid: 81%
Average Aid: $12,996
Enrollment: 22,563

21. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton

For Transportation Engineering

#201 in the United States

#234 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 91%
Receiving Aid: 83%
Average Aid: $11,234
Enrollment: 43,662

22. California State University - Fresno

Fresno

For Transportation Engineering

#216 in the United States

#249 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 95%
Receiving Aid: 88%
Average Aid: $12,326
Enrollment: 24,427

23. California State University - Northridge

Los Angeles

For Transportation Engineering

#225 in the United States

#259 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 93%
Receiving Aid: 86%
Average Aid: $12,825
Enrollment: 38,313

24. California State University - Sacramento

Sacramento

For Transportation Engineering

#242 in the United States

#277 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 94%
Receiving Aid: 86%
Average Aid: $12,767
Enrollment: 31,943

25. University of California - Merced

Merced

For Transportation Engineering

#257 in the United States

#293 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 91%
Receiving Aid: 91%
Average Aid: $27,292
Enrollment: 9,110

26. University of San Francisco

San Francisco

For Transportation Engineering

#260 in the United States

#297 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 62%
Average SAT: 1290
Average ACT: 28
Net Price: $45,443

27. Santa Clara University

Santa Clara

For Transportation Engineering

#276 in the United States

#314 in North America

Acceptance Rate: 48%
Average SAT: 1420
Average ACT: 32
Net Price: $53,883

Closest to California states to learn Transportation Engineering

State	Universities Unis	Best university country rank Best uni rank
Oregon	4	35
Utah	4	30
Arizona	3	23
Washington	5	6
Colorado	7	68
Nebraska	3	61
Kansas	3	106
Texas	17	3
Oklahoma	3	86
North Dakota	2	94
Missouri	6	72
Louisiana	4	58
Wisconsin	4	22
Illinois	11	13
Mississippi	4	122
Indiana	6	4
Michigan	8	5
Tennessee	6	45
Alabama	6	78
Kentucky	3	56
Ohio	13	19
Georgia	6	8
South Carolina	3	50
North Carolina	9	32
Virginia	8	10
Pennsylvania	11	12
Florida	10	7
District of Columbia	5	84
Maryland	7	11
New York	23	25
New Jersey	7	17
Connecticut	3	62
Massachusetts	12	2
Rhode Island	3	59