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Santa Barbara, CA · Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering at UC Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara graduates about 47 chemical engineering majors a year. That puts it 37th of 163 schools we score for chemical engineering, a strong program at 72 out of 100. Graduates in the major earn a median $113,000 four years out, 1.16× what the same major pays nationally. Research spending in the field runs about $8 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.

72/100Strong#37 of 163 for chemical engineering →
Graduates a year47under 1% of the class
Median pay 4 years out$113,0001.16× the same major nationally
Research in the field$8Ma year, NSF
Admit rate38%whole school

Around UC Santa Barbara

The East Asian Library in Davidson Library, UCSB
East Asian Library of UCSBPhoto: AndyHe829 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
the Ti-Nspire CX ii CAS
CxcasiiPhoto: Prezi2 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Oneweb mission. This one involved the booster returning to base.
Spacex Launch as seen from UCSB (54239527832)Photo: Glenn Beltz from Goleta, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source
Lunar Eclipse at UCSB
Lunar Eclipse at UCSB (51203940477)Photo: Glenn Beltz from Goleta, CA, USA · CC BY 2.0 · source

Where chemical engineering happens

Buildings on campus that fit the field: Engineering Science, BioEngineering, Chemistry, Materials Research Laboratory, Charles Douglass Woodhouse Laboratory, Engineering II.

Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 125 · Student housing 31 · Dorm 25 · Athletics 10 · Arts 7 · Dining 5.

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Nearby in the chemical engineering ranking

  1. Auburn University 74
  2. Virginia Tech 73
  3. University of Virginia 73
  4. University of Massachusetts–Amherst 72
  5. Yale University 71
  6. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 71
  7. University of Chicago 70
  8. Michigan State University 70

Other strong majors at UC Santa Barbara

How the score works

The score is out of 100 and compares UC Santa Barbara with every school we score in chemical engineering. It weighs what graduates earn four years out against the same major nationally (25%), research spending in the field (20%, NSF), how many undergraduate courses the department lists (20%), the student body's test scores (20%) and the size of the program (15%, capped so size alone can't win). 80+ is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Sources: US Department of Education (College Scorecard, IPEDS), NSF HERD, each school's current course catalog, OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia Commons.

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