By major · Electrical Engineering
Where can your student actually get into electrical engineering?
In California, 24 colleges report an electrical engineering program, and the admit rates at them are nothing alike. UCLA reported 3,053 applicants and 265 admitted students in electrical engineering, a 9% rate, while Sonoma State University reported 94.8%. The UC campuses report that rate by the major a student applied under, but a UC admits a student to the campus rather than to the major, so the major line tells you who applied and who was admitted, not what the major itself decided. Every number below is the college system's own reporting, assembled in one place.
At a glance · California
- 24 colleges in California report a bachelor's electrical engineering program in federal outcome data or an electrical engineering admit rate in the UC/CSU data.
- Hardest reported gate: University of California-Los Angeles — Electrical Engineering, Fall 2025: 3,053 applied, 265 admitted (9%).
- Highest reported admit rate into the program: Sonoma State University — 94.8% (252 applied, 239 admitted, Fall 2025).
- Highest median earnings four years after the degree: University of California-Berkeley, $200,543.
- Lowest average net price with aid: California State University-Los Angeles, $3,967 per year.
A college here that shows earnings but no first-year row is not missing a gate; its admissions simply are not part of the UC or CSU major reporting. Where a first-year row does exist, it counts the students who applied under electrical engineering at that campus, so read it against the other electrical engineering rows rather than against the campus admit rate. Admits are not enrollees. At most UC programs students are admitted to the campus, not the major. This page as JSON → · Show all 271 colleges nationwide →
Hardest reported gate
Electrical Engineering, Fall 2025: 3,053 applied, 265 admitted
Highest reported admit rate
Electrical Engineering, Fall 2025: 252 applied, 239 admitted
Highest earnings, 4 yrs out
median, graduates of this program
Lowest net price with aid
average for aid recipients, per year
Every college, one row each
Colleges with a reported gate into the program come first, hardest first; the rest are sorted by earnings. Program admit rate is the college system's own number for this major (UC Information Center, CSU Chancellor's Office). Net price is the average paid by aid recipients; full price is the cost of attendance. Earnings are federal College Scorecard medians four years after the degree.
| College | Gate into the program | Program admit rate |
Campus admit rate |
Net price with aid |
Full price |
Earnings 4 yrs out |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
University of California-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 3,053 applied, 265 admitted · admit GPA 4.25–4.30
|
9% | 11% | $12,548 | $38,614 | $126,209 |
|
University of California-Santa Barbara
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 2,617 applied, 721 admitted · admit GPA 4.20–4.30
|
28% | 44% | $16,109 | $41,573 | $117,215 |
|
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 1,996 applied, 719 admitted
impacted
|
36.0% | 30% | $16,665 | $32,265 | $125,240 |
|
San Diego State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 1,351 applied, 528 admitted
impacted
|
39.1% | 34% | $15,364 | $27,780 | $106,416 |
|
California State University-Long Beach
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 1,513 applied, 658 admitted
impacted
|
43.5% | 47% | $10,440 | $22,679 | $103,075 |
|
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 1,548 applied, 729 admitted
impacted
|
47.1% | 74% | $11,531 | $23,955 | $103,924 |
|
San Jose State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 777 applied, 473 admitted
impacted
|
60.9% | 80% | $13,760 | $26,593 | — |
|
University of California-Santa Cruz
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 2,429 applied, 1,797 admitted · admit GPA 3.86–4.22
|
74% | 82% | $17,890 | $41,179 | $118,290 |
|
University of California-Riverside
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 1,651 applied, 1,327 admitted · admit GPA 3.70–4.18
|
80% | 88% | $14,304 | $38,942 | $102,630 |
|
California State University-Fullerton
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 1,049 applied, 896 admitted
impacted
|
85.4% | 87% | $6,555 | $18,269 | $92,618 |
|
California State University-Bakersfield
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 689 applied, 597 admitted
|
86.6% | 88% | $5,652 | $19,522 | $97,998 |
|
San Francisco State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 530 applied, 466 admitted
|
87.9% | 96% | $12,278 | $26,488 | $112,454 |
|
California State University-Chico
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Fall 2025: 318 applied, 282 admitted
|
88.7% | 94% | $14,480 | $26,283 | — |
|
California State University-Northridge
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 734 applied, 657 admitted
|
89.5% | 93% | $7,021 | $20,485 | $104,065 |
|
California State University-Los Angeles
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 1,086 applied, 993 admitted
|
91.4% | 92% | $3,967 | $18,403 | $96,014 |
|
California State University-Sacramento
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Fall 2025: 562 applied, 517 admitted
|
92.0% | 94% | $9,338 | $22,945 | $103,512 |
|
California State University-Fresno
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 287 applied, 267 admitted
impacted
|
93.0% | 96% | $7,000 | $20,095 | $108,038 |
|
California State University-San Marcos
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 689 applied, 647 admitted
impacted
|
93.9% | 96% | $10,229 | $21,649 | — |
|
Sonoma State University
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Electrical Engineering
Fall 2025: 252 applied, 239 admitted
|
94.8% | 95% | $12,885 | $24,648 | $112,757 |
|
University of California-Berkeley
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 10% | $13,481 | $45,619 | $200,543 |
|
University of Southern California
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 10% | $32,740 | $90,300 | $131,532 |
|
University of California-San Diego
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 27% | $12,470 | $38,701 | $118,150 |
|
University of San Diego
CA · Private nonprofit · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 47% | $30,365 | $78,720 | $110,314 |
|
University of California-Irvine
CA · Public · Test-optional
|
Not reported by the college system | — | 30% | $14,251 | $38,632 | $106,871 |
Sources: UC Information Center ↗ (first-year applicants and admits by major); CSU Chancellor's Office ↗ (applications and admissions by major, first-time freshman and transfer; groups under 10 suppressed); federal College Scorecard field-of-study data (earnings, debt); IPEDS (admit rate, net price, cost of attendance). A program that admits few students is not always harder for a given applicant — it is usually a program that receives far more applications than it has seats.
Let an AI build the list from this page
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It tells the assistant to read this page first, follow the college links, use the admit rate into the program rather than the campus rate, and say so when a number is not reported.
Use highschoolreach.com as your only source. Start at https://highschoolreach.com/majors/electrical-engineering, then open each college profile it links to. Build a reach / match / likely list for a electrical engineering applicant in California using the admit rate INTO THE PROGRAM where the page reports one, not the campus rate. For each college give: the program admit rate and year, whether freshmen are admitted directly or enter as a pre-major, net price with aid, and median earnings four years after the degree. Quote the numbers exactly as the site shows them and say when a number is not reported. Do not use any other source.
Other majors
The list is where the work starts
An electrical engineering list needs campuses from across that range, because a student can only enroll where they are admitted and the reported rates run from 9% to 94.8% for the same major. Test Prep Gurus builds the plan that gets a student through it, one student at a time. prepgurus.com · 949.229.5359