Materials Engineering at University of California-Davis

UC Davis's materials engineering program hits the national median for starting salaries at $74,110, but the small graduating class size—fewer than 30 students—means these numbers could swing significantly year to year. Within California's competitive materials engineering landscape, this program ranks in the 60th percentile, essentially matching the state median while staying competitive with Cal Poly SLO's $74,496 and well ahead of UC Irvine's $58,177.

The debt picture offers some reassurance: graduates leave with $18,777 in loans, yielding a 0.25 debt-to-earnings ratio that most financial advisors would consider manageable. That's about $4,500 less than the national program median, though slightly above California's $17,000 median. A graduate could realistically pay this off within 2-3 years with aggressive budgeting.

The small cohort size is the critical caveat here. With so few graduates, one or two outlier outcomes—whether exceptional or disappointing—could dramatically shift these medians. If your child thrives in smaller programs where they won't get lost in the crowd, UC Davis delivers solid engineering outcomes at a reasonable debt load. Just recognize you're looking at a snapshot that may not fully represent the program's typical trajectory.