25 Best Engineering Degrees

For those who want a career that will con­tin­ue to pro­mote and move up, engi­neer­ing offers that abil­i­ty with expe­ri­ence, cer­ti­fi­ca­tion, and edu­ca­tion­al degrees. The rea­son engi­neer­ing is a diverse and attain­able career option is because of the prac­ti­cal skillset that is taught in this major. These skills include logis­tics, prob­lem-solv­ing, log­i­cal think­ing, and pro­fi­cient in work­ing with num­bers and are essen­tial for suc­cess­ful engi­neers across the globe. These stu­dents must also be able to be chal­lenged, as these job descrip­tions will require them to lead and del­e­gate, as well. Some of these stu­dents decide to shift their engi­neer­ing degrees to fit par­tic­u­lar engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy degree jobs that fit their inter­ests and career goals.

The path to becom­ing an engi­neer usu­al­ly begins with an under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degree — usu­al­ly a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Engi­neer­ing or a Bach­e­lor of Engi­neer­ing (BEng). Stu­dents who want to work hands-on in the engi­neer­ing field often choose an Engi­neer­ing Tech­nol­o­gy degree. While there are online engi­neer­ing bachelor’s pro­grams, a tra­di­tion­al, on-cam­pus pro­gram is gen­er­al­ly con­sid­ered the best choice, due to the men­tor­ship and net­work­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties — not to men­tion access to state of the art equip­ment and labs.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Undergraduate Engineering Schools

The Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter rank­ing of the best engi­neer­ing under­grad­u­ate schools begins with ABET accred­i­ta­tion, the stan­dard for qual­i­ty in engi­neer­ing edu­ca­tion. From the ini­tial list of ABET-accred­it­ed insti­tu­tions, we ranked under­grad­u­ate pro­grams accord­ing to five criteria:

• Cost
• Grad­u­a­tion Rate
• Job Place­ment Rate
• Salary Poten­tial
• Stu­dent Satisfaction

Our data is drawn from IPEDS, Col­lege Score­card, and Niche. With these five fac­tors, stu­dents can feel con­fi­dent that their degree will pay off in their career and salary.

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

There’s no ques­tion that MIT is one of the best engi­neer­ing under­grad­u­ate schools in the world. MIT’s School of Engi­neer­ing offers pro­grams in Aero­nau­tics and Astro­nau­tics, Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing and Com­put­er Sci­ence, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Bio­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il and Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, and Nuclear Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing. There are even flex­i­ble degree options for stu­dents who wish to get a lit­tle cre­ative with their cours­es of study.

MIT’s Mak­er­Lodge offers first-year engi­neer­ing stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn use­ful skills such as shop safe­ty, prop­er use of hand and pow­er tools, sol­der­ing, 3D print­ing, CNC machin­ing, laser cut­ting, and cir­cuit board man­u­fac­tur­ing. Stu­dents can par­tic­i­pate in research along­side fac­ul­ty in state-of-the-art research facil­i­ties, includ­ing the new MIT.nano nanoscale research facility.

What We Like: All MIT stu­dents are eli­gi­ble to par­tic­i­pate in MIT’s Sand­box Inno­va­tion Fund, which pro­vides fund­ing to help launch stu­dent-run businesses.

Pro­grams: 8 concentrations

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2. Stanford University

With 16 pro­grams to choose from, Stan­ford University’s School of Engi­neer­ing has one of the best engi­neer­ing degrees in the coun­try. Stan­ford offers under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degrees in Aero­nau­tics and Astro­nau­tics, Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Bio­engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Sci­ence, Civ­il Engi­neer­ing, Envi­ron­men­tal Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, Man­age­ment Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Atmos­phere and Ener­gy, Engi­neer­ing Physics, Archi­tec­tur­al Design, Bio­med­ical Com­pu­ta­tion, Bio­me­chan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, and Prod­uct Design.

Stan­ford Engi­neer­ing strives to find solu­tions to prob­lems that impact the entire world and to train lead­ers who will use engi­neer­ing to change the world for the bet­ter. The school’s goals focus on per­form­ing research-based edu­ca­tion that is dri­ven by prob­lem-solv­ing and curios­i­ty. Stu­dents, fac­ul­ty, and alum­ni of the Stan­ford School of Engi­neer­ing have found­ed thou­sands of com­pa­nies through­out Sil­i­con Val­ley and around the world.

What We Like: In addi­tion to the pro­grams list­ed above, you can major in Ener­gy Resources Engi­neer­ing through Stanford’s School of Earth, Ener­gy, and Envi­ron­men­tal Sci­ences or design your own major in engineering.

Pro­grams: 16 concentrations

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3. Duke University

Duke University’s Pratt School of Engi­neer­ing offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Engi­neer­ing (BSE) in Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il Engi­neer­ing, Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing, and Elec­tri­cal & Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing. The mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing pro­gram is an all-encom­pass­ing major that includes study of biotech­nol­o­gy, com­mu­ni­ca­tion tech­nol­o­gy, ener­gy, trans­porta­tion, and nan­otech­nol­o­gy. The pro­gram empha­sizes engi­neer­ing for the trans­porta­tion vehi­cle and aero­space industries.

The fac­ul­ty at Duke Engi­neer­ing spends a lot of time think­ing about what the engi­neers of the future will need to know. The school strives to equip its stu­dents to think cre­ative­ly in order to solve the most com­plex prob­lems in soci­ety. Stu­dents are immersed in research, design, com­put­ing, data sci­ence, and entre­pre­neur­ship as they work in teams on real-life projects with real clients.

What We Like: Duke Engi­neer­ing is grow­ing! A new 150,000-square-foot build­ing that is sched­uled to open in 2020 will have two full floors ded­i­cat­ed to team-based, real-world prob­lem-solv­ing opportunities.

Pro­grams: BS in Engi­neer­ing — 5 concentrations

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4. Georgia Tech

No list of the best engi­neer­ing under­grad­u­ate schools in the world would be com­plete with­out the Geor­gia Tech Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing. Geor­gia Tech offers under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing, Nuclear & Radi­o­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Aero­space Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing, Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il and Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Indus­tri­al and Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, and Chem­i­cal and Bio­mol­e­c­u­lar Engineering.

Each of the engi­neer­ing schools with­in the Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing at Geor­gia Tech share a focus on com­mu­ni­ca­tion. Each school’s com­mu­ni­ca­tion pro­gram is led by fac­ul­ty mem­bers who are trained in Eng­lish, not engi­neer­ing, and tai­lored to fit the com­mu­ni­ca­tion needs for engi­neers in that dis­ci­pline. While the teach­ing meth­ods vary from one school to anoth­er, the end result is the same: engi­neer­ing grad­u­ates who are able to com­mu­ni­cate well oral­ly, visu­al­ly, and through the writ­ten word. Geor­gia Tech engi­neers not only learn how to design a bet­ter world, but to explain what they are doing so that every­one else can understand.

What We Like: The Geor­gia Tech Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing awards more under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degrees to minor­i­ty and female stu­dents than any oth­er engi­neer­ing school in the US.

Pro­grams: 9 concentrations

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5. University of Virginia

For stu­dents seek­ing a bach­e­lor of engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Vir­ginia School of Engi­neer­ing and Applied Sci­ence offers 10 under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degrees to choose from: Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing, Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Aero­space Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing, Engi­neer­ing Sci­ence, Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Sci­ence, and Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing. In addi­tion, UVA’s engi­neer­ing stu­dents are giv­en oppor­tu­ni­ties to take cours­es in the School of Arts & Sci­ences and the School of Commerce.

The Works in Progress pro­gram at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Vir­ginia nur­tures stu­dent entre­pre­neur­ship, and engi­neer­ing stu­dents are encour­aged to par­tic­i­pate. Stu­dents from the School of Engi­neer­ing and Applied Sci­ence have a long his­to­ry of suc­cess in UVA’s biggest entre­pre­neur­ship competition.

What We Like: UVA Engi­neer­ing prides itself on diver­si­ty. The school seeks to increase cre­ativ­i­ty and per­spec­tive by includ­ing peo­ple from many cul­tures and backgrounds.

Pro­grams: 10 concentrations

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6. University of Pennsylvania

Found­ed by Ben­jamin Franklin him­self, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Penn­syl­va­nia is still high­ly sought after for one of the best engi­neer­ing degrees in the US. Penn Engi­neer­ing offers 10 under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing pro­grams: Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing, Mar­ket and Social Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Sci­ence, Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, Bio­engi­neer­ing, Dig­i­tal Media Design, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing and Applied Mechan­ics, Chem­i­cal and Bio­mol­e­c­u­lar Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing, and Sys­tems Sci­ence and Engineering.

Penn Engi­neer­ing pre­pares its engi­neer­ing stu­dents to be lead­ers in tech­nol­o­gy-rich fields such as bio­engi­neer­ing and com­put­er engi­neer­ing. Since lead­er­ship requires more than just tech­ni­cal knowl­edge, Penn instills its engi­neer­ing stu­dents with a thor­ough under­stand­ing of team­work, man­age­ment skills, ethics, and com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills. Penn Engi­neer­ing stu­dents work togeth­er on col­lab­o­ra­tive expe­ri­ences in a research-rich environment.

What We Like: Penn Engi­neer­ing offers sev­er­al spe­cial­ized pro­grams and dual degrees, such as the Roy and Diana Vage­los Inte­grat­ed Pro­gram in Ener­gy Research and the Jerome Fish­er Pro­gram in Man­age­ment and Technology.

Pro­grams: BSE or BAS — 10 concentrations

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7. Princeton University

The School of Engi­neer­ing and Applied Sci­ence at Prince­ton Uni­ver­si­ty offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Engi­neer­ing in Com­put­er Sci­ence, Oper­a­tions Research and Finan­cial Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il and Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing, Chem­i­cal & Bio­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, and Mechan­i­cal and Aero­space Engi­neer­ing. These pro­grams are all flex­i­ble enough for stu­dents to pur­sue cer­tifi­cate pro­grams in oth­er dis­ci­plines in addi­tion to the BSE degree.

Prince­ton Engi­neer­ing offers a col­lab­o­ra­tive envi­ron­ment that brings togeth­er stu­dents from var­ied aca­d­e­m­ic back­grounds, coun­tries, and cul­tures to solve the most press­ing prob­lems affect­ing soci­ety. Prince­ton stu­dents tack­le envi­ron­men­tal issues, health chal­lenges, sus­tain­abil­i­ty, and more. Prince­ton University’s School of Engi­neer­ing and Applied Sci­ence is a world-class school that pro­vides a strong lib­er­al arts foun­da­tion along with a sol­id base in the fun­da­men­tals of science.

What We Like: Using their exper­tise in infra­struc­ture, secu­ri­ty, cli­mate, pub­lic pol­i­cy, data sci­ence, and oth­er dis­ci­plines, Prince­ton engi­neers are work­ing to cre­ate a resilient and sus­tain­able design for the metrop­o­lis of the future.

Pro­grams: BS in Engi­neer­ing — 6 concentrations

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8. University of Michigan

Stu­dents seek­ing a bach­e­lor of engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy can take their pick from 17 dif­fer­ent majors offered through the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing. The options avail­able are Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing, Aero­space Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing, Cli­mate and Mete­o­rol­o­gy, Civ­il Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing, Data Sci­ence, Com­put­er Sci­ence, Indus­tri­al and Oper­a­tions Engi­neer­ing, Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Engi­neer­ing Physics, Naval Archi­tec­ture and Marine Engi­neer­ing, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, Space Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, and Nuclear Engi­neer­ing and Radi­o­log­i­cal Sciences.

Michi­gan Engi­neer­ing seeks to pro­vide tech­no­log­i­cal and sci­en­tif­ic lead­er­ship to improve the qual­i­ty of life for the peo­ple of Michi­gan and through­out the world. The school val­ues the cre­ation and appli­ca­tion of knowl­edge, as well as the abil­i­ty to com­mu­ni­cate effec­tive­ly. The school pro­duces strong lead­ers who will chal­lenge the sta­tus quo in order to cre­ate a bet­ter tomorrow.

What We Like: Michi­gan Engi­neer­ing seeks to be dar­ing, inno­v­a­tive, and future-ori­ent­ed and serve soci­ety by focus­ing on edu­ca­tion and research that ben­e­fits society.

Pro­grams: 17 concentrations

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9. Lehigh University

The P.C. Rossin Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing and Applied Sci­ence at Lehigh Uni­ver­si­ty offers under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degrees in Civ­il Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing, Indus­tri­al and Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Bio­engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing, Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Sci­ence, Engi­neer­ing Mechan­ics, and Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing. Lehigh Uni­ver­si­ty is com­mit­ted to pro­vid­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties for under­grad­u­ate research that is based on find­ing solu­tions to real-world problems.

Lehigh’s inter­dis­ci­pli­nary pro­gram allows engi­neer­ing stu­dents to apply their tal­ents to oth­er fields, such as busi­ness, med­i­cine, law, and gov­ern­ment. The school offers some of the most flex­i­ble engi­neer­ing pro­grams avail­able any­where. Lehigh’s inter­dis­ci­pli­nary pro­grams include Inte­grat­ed Busi­ness and Engi­neer­ing; Com­put­er Sci­ence and Busi­ness; Applied Sci­ence; Inte­grat­ed Degree in Engi­neer­ing, Arts and Sci­ences; and Arts and Engineering.

What We Like: Lehigh’s Tech­ni­cal Entre­pre­neur­ship pro­gram allows teams of stu­dents from the busi­ness, engi­neer­ing, and design depart­ments to work togeth­er to cre­ate new prod­ucts for the program’s spon­sors, includ­ing NASA and Gen­er­al Motors.

Pro­grams: BS — 11 concentrations

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10. Vanderbilt University

The School of Engi­neer­ing at Van­der­bilt Uni­ver­si­ty offers under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degrees in Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il and Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Chem­i­cal and Bio­mol­e­c­u­lar Engi­neer­ing, Gen­er­al Engi­neer­ing, and Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing and Com­put­er Sci­ence. Stu­dents can also minor in engi­neer­ing man­age­ment, ener­gy and envi­ron­men­tal sys­tems, com­put­er sci­ence, mate­ri­als sci­ence and engi­neer­ing, envi­ron­men­tal engi­neer­ing, sci­en­tif­ic com­put­ing, and nanoscience and nanotechnology.

The Van­der­bilt School of Engi­neer­ing seeks not just to cre­ate rev­o­lu­tions, but to do so respon­si­bly. Stu­dents are encour­aged to think beyond their sci­en­tif­ic and tech­no­log­i­cal train­ing to deter­mine the impact their cre­ations could have on the world, for bet­ter or for worse. The school strives to keep stu­dents focused on respon­si­bil­i­ty and sus­tain­abil­i­ty, with a keen eye on the con­se­quences that could be caused by their inventions.

What We Like: Vanderbilt’s School of Engi­neer­ing works to make the world a bet­ter place by improv­ing com­mu­ni­ca­tion, man­u­fac­tur­ing, med­ical care, entre­pre­neur­ship, lead­er­ship, and civic engagement.

Pro­grams: 6 concentrations

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11. University of Illinois

The Grainger Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois offers 15 under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing majors: Engi­neer­ing Mechan­ics; Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing and Design; Aero­space Engi­neer­ing; Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing; Agri­cul­tur­al and Bio­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing; Nuclear, Plas­ma, and Radi­o­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing; Engi­neer­ing Physics; Bio­engi­neer­ing; Com­put­er Sci­ence; Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing; Chem­i­cal and Bio­mol­e­c­u­lar Engi­neer­ing; Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing; Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing; Civ­il and Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing; and Indus­tri­al Engineering.

Grainger offers schol­ar­ships through the Engi­neer­ing Vision­ary Schol­ar­ship (EVS) Ini­tia­tive to help make engi­neer­ing school more afford­able. Res­i­dents of Illi­nois are favored in the schol­ar­ship selec­tion process. The EVS pro­gram offers large schol­ar­ships that help attract deserv­ing stu­dents to the Grainger Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing. Since the school start­ed offer­ing the EVS schol­ar­ships, the num­ber of women and minori­ties in the fresh­man class has increased by about 55%.

What We Like: The aver­age start­ing salary for stu­dents who grad­u­ate from the Grainger Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing is about 11% high­er than the nation­al average.

Pro­grams: 14 concentrations

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12. Virginia Tech

Vir­ginia Tech’s Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing offers 15 under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing majors: Aero­space Engi­neer­ing, Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing, Indus­tri­al and Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Ocean Engi­neer­ing, Mate­ri­als Sci­ence Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il Engi­neer­ing, Bio­log­i­cal Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Com­put­er Sci­ence, Engi­neer­ing Sci­ence and Mechan­ics, Con­struc­tion Engi­neer­ing and Man­age­ment, and Min­ing and Mate­ri­als Engi­neer­ing. The school also offers sev­en minors.

The Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing at Vir­ginia Tech offers immer­sive expe­ri­ences that thor­ough­ly pre­pare stu­dents for what­ev­er comes next in the real world. Stu­dents receive a world-class engi­neer­ing edu­ca­tion that pro­vides oppor­tu­ni­ties to net­work with pro­fes­sion­al engi­neers. First-year stu­dents explore all 15 majors in order to be able to make a more informed choice when decid­ing which engi­neer­ing major to pur­sue. The school con­ducts research in areas such as water con­t­a­m­i­na­tion, Alzheimer’s dis­ease, and cyber­se­cu­ri­ty. Stu­dents have been rec­og­nized for projects such as an improved design for space hel­mets and a device that helps emer­gency respon­ders lift patients more easily.

What We Like: The Vir­ginia Tech Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing is #5 in the nation for the num­ber of engi­neer­ing grad­u­ates pro­duced and is ranked 8th in the nation for research expenditures.

Pro­grams: 15 concentrations

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13. University of Wisconsin

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin-Madi­son Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing offers majors in Bio­med­ical Engi­neer­ing, Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing, Civ­il and Envi­ron­men­tal Engi­neer­ing, Chem­i­cal and Bio­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, Indus­tri­al and Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Engi­neer­ing Physics, Bio­log­i­cal Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing, Mate­ri­als Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing, and Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing. The school’s world-class fac­ul­ty deliv­er a well-round­ed cur­ricu­lum that pro­vides the resources, tools, and knowl­edge stu­dents need to be able to iden­ti­fy prob­lems and design solu­tions to effec­tive­ly address them.

The Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin-Madi­son offers a hands-on learn­ing envi­ron­ment that engages stu­dents in mean­ing­ful work that has a pos­i­tive impact on the world. The school val­ues inclu­sive­ness, and encour­ages stu­dents from dif­fer­ent back­grounds to work togeth­er in order to ben­e­fit from dif­fer­ent per­spec­tives. Projects stu­dents have worked on recent­ly include mak­ing met­als mal­leable, devel­op­ing tech­nol­o­gy that allows peo­ple to see around cor­ners, and cre­at­ing smart glass that can rec­og­nize images with­out any cir­cuits or sensors.

What We Like: Intern­ships, vol­un­teer work, stu­dent orga­ni­za­tions, coop­er­a­tive work expe­ri­ences, the TEAM lab, and mak­er­space all pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ties for stu­dents to get hands-on engi­neer­ing expe­ri­ence while they learn.

Pro­grams: 12 concentrations

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14. Cornell University

The deci­sion to seek the best under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing schools will give you an oppor­tu­ni­ty to focus on accom­plish­ing your long-term goals. Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty offers an under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing pro­gram that gives you the train­ing you need to work in engi­neer­ing. As one of the best engi­neer­ing degrees, the pro­gram teach­es stu­dents to apply their train­ing and knowl­edge about math­e­mat­ics, sci­ence, and engi­neer­ing to accom­plish their goals in a career.

Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty stands out from oth­er pro­grams by tak­ing an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approach to engi­neer­ing. Stu­dents gain the oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn about dif­fer­ent aspects of engi­neer­ing and work togeth­er to find real­is­tic solu­tions to cur­rent con­cerns. Since stu­dents from dif­fer­ent engi­neer­ing majors may work togeth­er in labs and class­es, stu­dents are exposed to dif­fer­ent areas of engi­neer­ing while work­ing on their degree.

What We Like: Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty offers 14 con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing for stu­dents to high­ly in-demand areas like bio­med­ical engi­neer­ing, earth and atmos­pher­ic engi­neer­ing, and envi­ron­men­tal engineering.

Pro­grams: 14 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

15. California Institute of Technology

The Cal­i­for­nia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy is one of the best engi­neer­ing under­grad­u­ate schools in the world. The engi­neer­ing pro­gram takes an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approach and allows stu­dents to work with fac­ul­ty to devel­op a cus­tomized pro­gram to fit their goals. Since stu­dents are able to study and inves­ti­gate top­ics that are not in a tra­di­tion­al engi­neer­ing course, they have the chance to focus on address­ing unique prob­lems or concerns.

A key way the Cal­i­for­nia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy stands out is the way it allows stu­dents to cus­tomize their stud­ies. Stu­dents are not required to fol­low a set course for their stud­ies. That gives stu­dents the flex­i­bil­i­ty to work around dif­fer­ent con­cerns or learn to address prob­lems that may apply to spe­cif­ic fields of study by using inter­dis­ci­pli­nary tools.

What We Like: The Cal­i­for­nia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy offers 12 con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing and 12 minors that stu­dents can use to fur­ther enhance their skills with­in dif­fer­ent areas of study.

Pro­grams: 12 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

16. Colorado School of Mines

When you want to obtain a bach­e­lor of engi­neer­ing, the Col­orado School of Mines offers a pro­gram to help with your long-term goals. The BS in Engi­neer­ing from the school teach­es stu­dents lead­er­ship and ethics, as well as the tech­ni­cal skills they need to work in an engi­neer­ing career. By focus­ing on devel­op­ing lead­er­ship and com­mu­ni­ca­tion skills, the degree pro­gram pre­pares stu­dents for the rig­ors of a career in the gov­ern­ment or a high-lev­el posi­tion in a pri­vate company.

A key aspect that sets the Col­orado School of Mines apart from oth­er pro­grams is the con­cen­tra­tions avail­able to stu­dents. The school offers 12 con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing that allow stu­dents to focus on spe­cif­ic aspects of engi­neer­ing with a focus that gives them a chance to obtain their career goals. That flex­i­bil­i­ty to select a degree that fits their plans will help stu­dents when they are ready to move for­ward with a career.

What We Like: The Col­orado School of Mines offers 18 ath­let­ic teams for stu­dents who want to engage in com­pet­i­tive ath­let­ics while work­ing on an engi­neer­ing degree.

Pro­grams: BS in Engi­neer­ing — 12 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

17. UCLA

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia at Los Ange­les, or UCLA, offers one of the best engi­neer­ing degrees in the world for stu­dents who are plan­ning to work as an engi­neer. The school gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in math­e­mat­ics and sci­ence that pre­pares stu­dents for the rig­ors of work­ing as an engi­neer or a relat­ed career. Stu­dents are able to focus on spe­cif­ic areas of engi­neer­ing to accom­plish their goals and address con­cerns that need real solu­tions for long-term plans.

UCLA stands apart from oth­er pro­grams by offer­ing 10 con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing that range from chem­i­cal engi­neer­ing to mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing and com­put­er sci­ence engi­neer­ing. The wide array of con­cen­tra­tions and majors allows stu­dents to focus on accom­plish­ing their goals for their career. It also gives you the spe­cial­ized train­ing you need for a spe­cif­ic career path.

What We Like: UCLA allows stu­dents to trans­fer into its engi­neer­ing pro­grams as long as stu­dents have com­plet­ed their prepara­to­ry course work at the low­er divi­sion of the college.

Pro­grams: 10 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

18. Texas A&M University

When you are look­ing for a bach­e­lor of engi­neer­ing, Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty offers a pro­gram to help with your long-term goals. The school has one of the best engi­neer­ing degrees for stu­dents who want to study engi­neer­ing because it offers a vari­ety of degrees that range from under­grad­u­ate pro­grams to doc­tor­al-lev­el degrees. That allows stu­dents to advance into a high­er lev­el of edu­ca­tion if they choose to focus on more in-depth stud­ies in the future.

A key aspect that sets Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty apart is the focus on learn­ing and grow­ing. Stu­dents are encour­aged to learn about new top­ics and areas of inter­est as they work on their degree. That gives stu­dents the con­fi­dence to pur­sue an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary strat­e­gy to resolve com­plex prob­lems that may need an under­stand­ing of mul­ti­ple topics.

What We Like: Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty offers more than 20 con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing that gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion to focus on their career goals.

Pro­grams: 20+ concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

19. Rice University

When you are look­ing for an engi­neer­ing pro­gram that fits your goals, you want to con­sid­er Rice Uni­ver­si­ty. Rice offers six con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing that gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in basic skills they need to work in engi­neer­ing. It also focus­es on help­ing stu­dents gain con­fi­dence in their abil­i­ties by offer­ing course­work designed to teach stu­dents com­mu­ni­ca­tion and lead­er­ship skills.

A key aspect that sets Rice Uni­ver­si­ty apart for engi­neer­ing is the focus on inter­dis­ci­pli­nary skills. While the school only offers six con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing, it also allows stu­dents to add minors that fur­ther sup­port their degree and train­ing. That gives stu­dents the flex­i­bil­i­ty to cus­tomize their degree to fit with their goals by adding spe­cif­ic minors that are designed to work with engi­neer­ing degrees.

What We Like: Rice Uni­ver­si­ty is ABET-accred­it­ed for its engi­neer­ing pro­grams, which assures poten­tial employ­ers that stu­dents are ready to han­dle the chal­lenges of a career as an engineer.

Pro­grams: 6 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

20. University of Florida

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da offers the best engi­neer­ing degrees that are designed to give stu­dents a rig­or­ous edu­ca­tion and prop­er train­ing for their career. The school offers stu­dents bach­e­lor’s degree pro­grams as well as a high­er lev­el of edu­ca­tion for those who plan to pur­sue a degree that fits a spe­cif­ic career or lead­er­ship path.

A key aspect that sets the Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da apart is the accred­it­ed pro­gram. The school is ABET-accred­it­ed and meets the high stan­dards set for an engi­neer­ing pro­gram. That gives stu­dents the con­fi­dence to pur­sue a degree while focus­ing on career goals. The accred­i­ta­tion means that employ­ers will con­sid­er the school rel­e­vant for mod­ern engi­neer­ing practices.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da offers 13 con­cen­tra­tions for stu­dents who plan to pur­sue engineering.

Pro­grams: 13 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

21. Carnegie Mellon University

Carnegie Mel­lon Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the best under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing schools for stu­dents who plan to work as an engi­neer. The degree pro­grams focus on prepar­ing stu­dents for the chal­lenges of iden­ti­fy­ing and resolv­ing prob­lems that may arise in dif­fer­ent areas of study. It gives stu­dents the con­fi­dence to look into poten­tial solu­tions and inno­vate tech­nol­o­gy to address a crit­i­cal concern.

Carnegie Mel­lon Uni­ver­si­ty offers sev­en con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing to give stu­dents spe­cial­ized skills with­in engi­neer­ing stud­ies. That allows stu­dents to pur­sue an area of inter­est while eval­u­at­ing career oppor­tu­ni­ties and look­ing into poten­tial con­cerns that may arise. The con­cen­tra­tions range from bio­med­ical engi­neer­ing to mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing to give stu­dents a broad array of top­ics to study.

What We Like: Carnegie Mel­lon Uni­ver­si­ty offers spe­cial­ized schol­ar­ships for engi­neer­ing stu­dents who may need assis­tance with the costs of their degree.

Pro­grams: 7 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

22. Johns Hopkins University

Stu­dents who decide to pur­sue engi­neer­ing may find that Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­si­ty offers an excel­lent pro­gram for their goals. The under­grad­u­ate degree in engi­neer­ing from Johns Hop­kins gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in the math­e­mat­ics and sci­ence skills they need to address cur­rent prob­lems and iden­ti­fy­ing poten­tial con­cerns. It also gives stu­dents a clear under­stand­ing of their area of study and the way engi­neer­ing works in dif­fer­ent industries.

A key way Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­si­ty stands apart from oth­er pro­grams is its focus on rig­or­ous and com­plete stud­ies. Stu­dents will have access to a vari­ety of cours­es to give them a strong foun­da­tion in inter­dis­ci­pli­nary fields of study before mov­ing for­ward with a spe­cial­ized skill set. That gives stu­dents the con­fi­dence to address prob­lems in their career when they need to draw on skills that are not spe­cif­ic to their area of interest.

What We Like: Johns Hop­kins Uni­ver­si­ty offers nine con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing to give stu­dents a vari­ety of options for their degree and goals.

Pro­grams: 9 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

23. University of California, Berkeley

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia at Berke­ley offers an under­grad­u­ate pro­gram in engi­neer­ing to pre­pare stu­dents for the chal­lenges of their future career. The degree pro­grams offer the oppor­tu­ni­ty to take on a career in a tech­ni­cal pro­fes­sion or to fol­low up on entre­pre­neur­ial goals when stu­dents want to devel­op their own com­pa­ny. It gives stu­dents a strong foun­da­tion in the stud­ies that will help them resolve prob­lems and iden­ti­fy con­cerns with­in their area of study.

A crit­i­cal way the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia at Berke­ley stands out from oth­er pro­grams is the focus on stim­u­lat­ing curios­i­ty. The school strives to encour­age stu­dents to look into new ideas and pur­sue per­son­al inter­ests with a focus on answer­ing their ques­tions and sat­is­fy­ing their sense of adven­ture and curios­i­ty. It gives stu­dents the con­fi­dence to move for­ward with their plans by find­ing new ways to improve life

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia at Berke­ley offers eight con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing to give stu­dents a vari­ety of options for their career.

Pro­grams: 8 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

24. University of Washington

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton offers one of the best engi­neer­ing pro­grams for stu­dents who want to pur­sue a career as an engi­neer. One of the best engi­neer­ing degrees focus­es on giv­ing stu­dents a rig­or­ous edu­ca­tion that builds on their fun­da­men­tal knowl­edge of math and sci­ence. It also works on help­ing stu­dents under­stand the tech­nol­o­gy asso­ci­at­ed with engi­neer­ing and the ways stu­dents can use math, sci­ence, and tech­nol­o­gy to find solu­tions to cur­rent problems.

A key way the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton stands out from oth­er pro­grams is the wide array of stud­ies stu­dents are allowed to pur­sue. You can com­bine your engi­neer­ing degree with oth­er pro­grams and minors to enhance your under­stand­ing of a spe­cif­ic sub­ject or top­ic of study. That gives you a strong abil­i­ty to address cur­rent prob­lems by using an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approach.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton offers 11 con­cen­tra­tions in engi­neer­ing as well as a vari­ety of oth­er majors and minors that you can add to enhance and improve your degree.

Pro­grams: 11 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

25. Purdue University

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty offers engi­neer­ing under­grad­u­ate pro­grams that allow stu­dents to focus on their goals. The school gives stu­dents sev­er­al options for their career and allows stu­dents to pur­sue a bach­e­lor’s degree, as well as a high­er lev­el of edu­ca­tion when they are ready for the next step of their career. That flex­i­bil­i­ty to obtain a degree that fits your plan gives you a chance to pur­sue an area of inter­est to address a con­cern or problem.

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty offers 14 con­cen­tra­tions for engi­neer­ing stu­dents. The num­ber of degree pro­grams allows stu­dents to focus on a spe­cif­ic area of engi­neer­ing or to use an inter­dis­ci­pli­nary approach to their stud­ies to address spe­cif­ic con­cerns. It gives you the flex­i­bil­i­ty to focus on resolv­ing a prob­lem through inno­va­tion and cre­ativ­i­ty, as well as prac­ti­cal skills.

What We Like: A key way Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty stands out from oth­er pro­grams is the online degrees avail­able in engi­neer­ing. The school offers online cours­es and mas­ters-lev­el edu­ca­tion through their online programs.

Pro­grams: 14 concentrations

Click to learn more about this engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s program!

Is Engineering a Good Career?

The jobs avail­able with an engi­neer­ing degree are vast and avail­able for stu­dents who are look­ing to enter that career field. Many stu­dents may won­der what to do with an engi­neer­ing degree. In fact, there are sev­er­al indus­tries in which engi­neer­ing is instru­men­tal in the dai­ly oper­a­tions of these indus­tries. This is because of the dif­fer­ent skills that are taught and uti­lized when obtain­ing an engi­neer­ing degree. Whether a stu­dent is look­ing into civ­il engi­neer­ing, chem­i­cal engi­neer­ing, mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing, or elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing, the best engi­neer­ing schools will take their career into a vari­ety of career paths.

The salary for an engi­neer is anoth­er rea­son why engi­neer­ing as a career option is often con­sid­ered. No mat­ter which indus­try a stu­dent is work­ing, if their job title includes engi­neer­ing, they can expect one of the high­er salaries on-site due to the skill set that is required for the job. Types of engi­neer­ing and salaries can range any­where from $74,000 annu­al­ly to well over $98,000 with pro­mo­tions in sev­er­al industries.

While the salaries are attrac­tive to these careers, these jobs require more hands-on than oth­er careers and can be more stress­ful and demand­ing of the engi­neer. Type of indus­tries that have engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy degree jobs include both the pub­lic and the pri­vate sec­tors. These indus­tries require their engi­neers to take lead on their projects and over­see the suc­cess and com­ple­tion of these projects.

Enroll­ment in a full-time high­er edu­ca­tion pro­gram in engi­neer­ing is demand­ing. U.S. News & World Report names some of the best schools as the Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas at Austin, the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Cal­i­for­nia, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois Urbana-Cham­paign, Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty West Lafayette, North­west­ern Uni­ver­si­ty, and Har­vard University.

What Types of Engineering and Salaries are There?

Dif­fer­ent types of engi­neer­ing careers can range in a vari­ety of dif­fer­ent indus­tries, and bachelor’s pro­grams offer many such spe­cial­iza­tions. They can be found every day on the high­ways, work­ing with elec­tric­i­ty, or in a man­u­fac­tur­ing plant down the road. Below are some of the dif­fer­ent types of engi­neer­ing careers available.

Some of the more com­mon types of engi­neer­ing careers include civ­il engi­neer­ing which works with infra­struc­ture and road­ways across the nation. These engi­neers can be hired at the local, state, or fed­er­al lev­el to oper­ate on pub­lic grounds. If an engi­neer is not inter­est­ed in work­ing as a con­sult­ing civ­il engi­neer for an agency, they can work pri­vate­ly for a con­tract­ing civ­il engi­neer that is often hired by town­ships for their infra­struc­ture projects. The types of engi­neer­ing and salaries for civ­il engi­neer­ing is on the low­er scale of salaries for engi­neers, but it is still com­pet­i­tive with­in its industry.

One of the larg­er types of engi­neer­ing careers is elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing, which is found at all lev­els of agen­cies in every state. Sub­sta­tions and elec­tri­cal con­trol cen­ters for areas and com­mu­ni­ties are designs by elec­tri­cal engi­neers designed to pro­vide the most pow­er to the area on the grid and main­tain a flow of ener­gy that pow­ers thou­sands of homes daily.

Some focus more on chem­i­cal engi­neer­ing, which takes raw mate­ri­als in their orig­i­nal state, and engi­neers them into prod­ucts that can be used for all cit­i­zens while abid­ing by health and safe­ty guide­lines. Aero­nau­tic engi­neer­ing has a focus on the dif­fer­ent air­craft tech­nolo­gies that are uti­lized for civil­ians and mil­i­tary uses. This degree requires a spe­cial­ized degree in order to work with this craft, but it is a career that is both chal­leng­ing and demanding.

Mechan­i­cal engi­neers are some of the most sought after engi­neers when con­sid­er­ing the dif­fer­ent types of engi­neer­ing careers that exist. These engi­neers are respon­si­ble for the improve­ment of mechan­i­cal oper­a­tions. They also require exten­sive skill in lead­er­ship, as these engi­neers are found as lead­ers of peo­ple and finances. For those engi­neers who have a serv­ing per­son­al­i­ty, envi­ron­men­tal engi­neer­ing is a grow­ing field that is grow­ing in demand. These engi­neers are respon­si­ble for solv­ing prob­lems such as min­i­miz­ing pol­lu­tion and assist­ing with main­tain­ing the envi­ron­ment in the area.

The types of engi­neer­ing and salaries that exist vary among the pro­fes­sion, but it is still grow­ing through­out. As indus­tries con­tin­ue to glob­al­ize and tech­nol­o­gy takes a lead in soci­ety and man­u­fac­tur­ing, the need for engi­neers will con­tin­ue to expand. Grad­u­ates from the best col­leges may have more con­nec­tions, but there is more than enough to go around.

Depend­ing on the chal­lenges, demands, and indus­try of the engi­neer, they may find them­selves at dif­fer­ent places on the salary scale. Rang­ing from the mid $70,000 range to six fig­ures, the types of engi­neer­ing and salaries increase with expe­ri­ence and pro­mo­tion. What this means for future stu­dents and grad­u­ates of engi­neer­ing and engi­neer­ing tech­nolo­gies degrees is that there is no lim­it to their career choic­es, and they have the abil­i­ty to take their career in any direc­tion they desire from indus­try to promotion.

Relat­ed Rank­ings:
15 Best Online Engi­neer­ing Degree Bach­e­lor’s Pro­grams
10 Fastest Online Engi­neer­ing Degree Bach­e­lor’s Pro­grams
10 Most Afford­able Online Engi­neer­ing Degree Bach­e­lor Programs

What Can I do With an Engi­neer­ing Degree?