Best Aerospace Engineer programs in California, ranked by enrollment
Perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. May conduct basic and applied research to evaluate adaptability of materials and equipment to aircraft design and manufacture.
38 schools in California run programs that feed this job, graduating 10,541 people a year. The job pays a median of $157,620 in California across about 9,170 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in California that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
4 programs in California that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in California (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own California page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 14.1901In California → | 5,001 | 47.4% | 30 | $70,724 | $24,833 |
| 2 | CIP 14.1001In California → | 4,119 | 39.1% | 35 | $77,636 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 14.0201In California → | 1,420 | 13.5% | 15 | $72,210 | $25,000 |
| 4 | CIP 14.0299In California → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $72,210 | $25,000 |
Top 25 schools in California
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 27 of the 38 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of California - Berkeley Berkeley, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 1,184 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $137,295 | 93% | — | 11% |
| 2 | University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 827 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $89,684 | 92% | $26,873 | 10% |
| 3 | University of California - San Diego La Jolla, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 758 | Mechanical Engineering | $69,555 | 86% | — | 27% |
| 4 | University of California - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 753 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $85,369 | 93% | — | 9% |
| 5 | California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 635 | Mechanical Engineering | $83,011 | 86% | — | 31% |
| 6 | Stanford University Stanford, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 607 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 92% | $12,032 | 4% |
| 7 | California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 605 | Mechanical Engineering | $75,040 | 68% | — | 75% |
| 8 | San Jose State University San Jose, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 537 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 69% | — | 85% |
| 9 | University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 527 | Mechanical Engineering | $67,633 | 87% | — | 29% |
| 10 | California State University - Long Beach Long Beach, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 508 | Mechanical Engineering | $60,996 | 69% | — | 46% |
| 11 | San Diego State University San Diego, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 469 | Mechanical Engineering | $69,754 | 76% | — | 36% |
| 12 | University of California - Davis Davis, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 408 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 86% | — | 42% |
| 13 | University of California - Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 299 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 83% | — | 33% |
| 14 | University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 277 | Mechanical Engineering | $62,554 | 76% | — | 76% |
| 15 | California State University - Northridge Northridge, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 261 | Mechanical Engineering | $71,359 | 57% | — | 93% |
| 16 | California State University - Sacramento Sacramento, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 259 | Mechanical Engineering | $66,462 | 56% | — | 94% |
| 17 | California State University - Fullerton Fullerton, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 224 | Mechanical Engineering | $65,252 | 70% | — | 91% |
| 18 | California State University - Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 192 | Mechanical Engineering | $55,405 | 53% | — | 91% |
| 19 | Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA Public · 3 feeder programs | 189 | Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General | — | — | — | — |
| 20 | California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 144 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 94% | $17,608 | 3% |
| 21 | University of California - Merced Merced, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 131 | Mechanical Engineering | $67,096 | 69% | — | 91% |
| 22 | Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 100 | Mechanical Engineering | $81,865 | 88% | $44,094 | 48% |
| 23 | San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 87 | Mechanical Engineering | $72,647 | 50% | — | 96% |
| 24 | University of California - Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA Public · 1 feeder programs | 81 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $78,842 | 75% | — | 66% |
| 25 | California State University - Fresno Fresno, CA Public · 2 feeder programs | 75 | Mechanical Engineering | $65,938 | 57% | — | 95% |
All 38 schools in California
Every school in California with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of California - Berkeley | Berkeley | Public | 1,184 | 3 |
| University of Southern California | Los Angeles | Private not-for-profit | 827 | 4 |
| University of California - San Diego | La Jolla | Public | 758 | 3 |
| University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Public | 753 | 3 |
| California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo | San Luis Obispo | Public | 635 | 3 |
| Stanford University | Stanford | Private not-for-profit | 607 | 3 |
| California State Polytechnic University - Pomona | Pomona | Public | 605 | 3 |
| San Jose State University | San Jose | Public | 537 | 3 |
| University of California - Irvine | Irvine | Public | 527 | 3 |
| California State University - Long Beach | Long Beach | Public | 508 | 3 |
| San Diego State University | San Diego | Public | 469 | 3 |
| University of California - Davis | Davis | Public | 408 | 3 |
| University of California - Santa Barbara | Santa Barbara | Public | 299 | 2 |
| University of California - Riverside | Riverside | Public | 277 | 2 |
| California State University - Northridge | Northridge | Public | 261 | 2 |
What aerospace engineers earn in California
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $134,960. California pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in California
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Aerospace Engineers page.
How to become a Aerospace Engineer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in California
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Aerospace Engineers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.0201Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General
- 14.0202Astronautical Engineering
- 14.0299Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, Other
- 14.1001Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- 14.1901Mechanical Engineering
Common questions
Answers for people weighing aerospace engineers programs in California.
What degree do you need to become an Aerospace Engineer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Mechanical Engineering, which awarded 5,001 degrees in California in 2024-25, 47.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Aerospace Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Aerospace. Together they graduate about 10,541 people a year in California.
How much do aerospace engineers earn in California?+
The median is $157,620 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 16.8% above the U.S. median of $134,960. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for aerospace engineers growing?+
BLS projects a +6.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 4,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in California?+
38 institutions in California reported graduates from at least one of the 4 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do aerospace engineers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Design Engineer, Systems Engineer, Aerospace Engineer, Flight Test Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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