Do you dream of building driverless cars or a space elevator? You should check out the best engineering schools in the US!
But with so many different engineering schools out there and intense competition for the top programs, how can you figure out where you should apply? To help you decide, we’ve compiled a list of the best engineering schools in the US. We’ll explain a little bit about each school on the list as well as provide rankings within specific subfields of engineering.
Engineering schools are colleges with a majority of majors and courses in applied sciences and mathematics. Rather than providing students with a broad liberal arts experience (of which science and math are just a small part), engineering programs centre around taking the scientific and mathematical knowledge we have and applying it to real-world problems.
There’s also a difference between schools of engineering (which exclusively focus on engineering fields like mechanical and computer engineering) and larger universities that have strong engineering programs within them (like Cornell University’s College of Engineering). We’ve considered both types of schools in our rankings.
In deciding which schools to include in our rankings, we focused only on the quality of undergraduate engineering programs. We did this by aggregating and comparing rankings from several different sources, including the US News & World Reports (weighted 2x the others because of their dominance), Niche (a student satisfaction-heavy ranking), and College Factual.
These rankings take into account factors like students’ salaries (both immediately after graduating and projected gains in the future), how popular that degree is at that school, student satisfaction, and how peers in the field view the program (mainly professors from other schools).
Best Specialized Engineering Programs
While all of the schools on our list are highly ranked overall, certain specialities are stronger at certain schools. We’ve chosen the gold, silver, and bronze medalists for six different subfields:
Aerospace engineering
Chemical engineering
Civil engineering
Computer engineering
Electrical engineering
Mechanical engineering
The rankings here are based on speciality rankings from US News & World Report and College Factual, again for undergraduate programs only (not including the quality of master’s or doctorate programs at the school).
You’ll notice some overlap over different fields (for instance, MIT, Georgia Tech, and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology rank for most of them), but there are still clear differences in which schools are best for which speciality.
Best Aerospace Engineering Schools in the US
Aerospace engineering is the field you go into if you’re interested in studying flight of any kind (whether that’s aircraft or spacecraft). The best aerospace engineering programs can be found in the following four schools:
Gold medal: MIT
Silver medal: Stanford
Bronze medal: University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
Best Chemical Engineering Schools in the US
Chemical engineering is at the intersection of chemistry, biology, math, and even some physics. The following three programs all do an outstanding job at turning out graduates skilled in chemical engineering.
Gold medal: MIT
Silver medal: Stanford
Bronze medal: Northwestern
Best Civil Engineering Schools in the US
Students in civil engineering programs learn about designing, building, and maintaining physical structures like bridges, buildings, and roads. The following four schools have leading programs in civil engineering for undergraduates.
Gold medal: MIT
Silver medal: Stanford
Bronze medal: Cal Tech, Rice
Best Computer Engineering Schools in the US
Computer engineering programs focus on teaching students computer science and electrical engineering. The three schools we’ve listed below have the best undergraduate computer engineering programs in the US (if you’re looking for top information technology programs, check out this article instead).
Gold medal: MIT, Stanford (tie)
Silver medal: Carnegie Mellon
Bronze medal: CalTech
Bonus: Want a preview of what sorts of tools you’ll be using as a computer engineer? Read our article on the JavaScript TypeOf function here.
Best Electrical Engineering Schools in the US
Programs with a focus in electrical engineering equip students to work (gloves-on-)hands-on with electricity and electronic-related structures, including circuitry and telecommunications (including mobile/cellular/satellite). Depending on the school, electrical engineering can also be a broader program that encompasses other engineering fields like aerospace, computer, or sound engineering. The following three schools are the best in the US when it comes to electrical engineering undergraduate programs:
Gold medal: MIT
Silver medal: Stanford
Bronze medal: CalTech, University of California—Berkeley (tie)
Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the US
Mechanical engineering programs teach students the theory and practicalities behind machine design, construction, and use. Of all the top engineering schools, the following three are known for their strong mechanical engineering programs.
Gold medal: MIT
Silver medal: Stanford
Bronze medal: University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
Tips for Applying to Engineering Schools
Now that you know what the best engineering schools in the US are, the next step is to make sure your high school transcript and application show that you’re a strong engineering candidate.
We’ll go over three useful tips for planning your standardized testing, coursework, and extracurriculars to have the best chance of getting into top engineering schools.