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2023 Most Popular Engineering Schools

376 Colleges
$68,653 Avg Salary
$23,855 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Engineering School for You

With 61,791 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, engineering is the #4 most popular major in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

The Most Popular Engineering Schools ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 376 schools in the United States to see which ones were the most popular programs for students. To create this ranking we looked at how many students graduated from the Engineering program at each school on the list.

Check out the engineering programs at these schools if you want to attend one of the most popular in the United States.

Our analysis found Northeastern University to be the most popular school for engineering students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Northeastern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Boston.

Read full report on Engineering at Northeastern University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Popular Engineering Schools list. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools list. Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Atlanta.

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Out of the 376 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Southern California landed the # 4 spot on the list. USC is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Los Angeles.

Full Engineering at University of Southern California Report

The excellent programs at Columbia University in the City of New York helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best engineering schools in the United States. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of New York.

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#6

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus ranked #6 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools list. Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a very large student population.

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#7

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

With a ranking of #7, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

Full Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University Report

Arizona State University - Tempe landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular engineering programs. Located in the medium-sized city of Tempe, ASU - Tempe is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Full Engineering at Arizona State University - Tempe Report

North Carolina State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for engineering students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large city of Raleigh, NC State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at North Carolina State University

Texas A&M University - College Station ranked #10 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools list. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of College Station.

Read full report on Engineering at Texas A&M University - College Station

#11

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD

Johns Hopkins University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Engineering Schools ranking. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Baltimore.

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#12

San Jose State University

San Jose, CA

San Jose State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for engineering students. It came in at #12 on the list. Located in the large city of San Jose, San Jose State is a public school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at San Jose State University

University of California - San Diego landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular engineering programs. UCSD is a fairly large public school located in the large city of La Jolla.

Full Engineering at University of California - San Diego Report

#14

Naval Postgraduate School

Monterey, CA

With a ranking of #14, Naval Postgraduate School did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students. Naval Postgraduate School is a small public school located in the midsize suburb of Monterey.

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#15

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for engineering students. It came in at #15 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at University of Florida

#16

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

With a ranking of #16, Stanford University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Read full report on Engineering at Stanford University

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the most popular engineering programs. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#18

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

With a ranking of #18, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at Cornell University

University of California - Berkeley came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Engineering Schools ranking. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

Full Engineering at University of California - Berkeley Report

Stevens Institute of Technology came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Engineering Schools ranking. Stevens is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Hoboken.

Read full report on Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked #21 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools list. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.

Read full report on Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

With a ranking of #22, University of Washington - Seattle Campus did quite well on this year’s most popular schools for engineering students. UW Seattle is a very large public school located in the large city of Seattle.

Full Engineering at University of Washington - Seattle Campus Report

#23

New York University

New York, NY

New York University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the most popular schools for engineering students. It came in at #23 on the list. Located in the city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read full report on Engineering at New York University

University of Maryland - College Park came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Most Popular Engineering Schools ranking. UMCP is a fairly large public school located in the large suburb of College Park.

Full Engineering at University of Maryland - College Park Report

The University of Texas at Arlington ranked #25 on this year’s Most Popular Engineering Schools list. Located in the city of Arlington, UT Arlington is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington Report

#30

University at Buffalo

Buffalo, NY
#31

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA
#33

Clemson University

Clemson, SC
#34

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL
#39

Duke University

Durham, NC
#40

Auburn University

Auburn, AL
#42

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
#47

Boston University

Boston, MA

Remaining Award Winners

This list represents the remainder of the colleges awarded a Most Popular Engineering Schools badge. Showing in this list means the college was ranked in the top 15% of the 376 different United States engineering schools we analyzed.

Rank College Location
51 Iowa State University Ames, IA
52 Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI
53 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
54 University of Houston Houston, TX
55 Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL
56 University of South Florida - Main Campus Tampa, FL

Additional Noteworthy Schools

Here are some additional popular schools for Engineering students that almost earned our Most Popular Engineering Schools award.

Rank College Location
57 University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT
58 Oregon State University Corvallis, OR
59 University of Michigan - Dearborn Dearborn, MI
60 The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville, TN
61 Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX
62 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH
63 Binghamton University Vestal, NY
64 Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY
64 University of California - Davis Davis, CA
66 University of Dayton Dayton, OH
67 University of Arizona Tucson, AZ
68 Drexel University Philadelphia, PA
69 Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY
70 University of California - Riverside Riverside, CA
70 George Washington University Washington, DC
72 Harvard University Cambridge, MA
73 University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA
74 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
75 Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL

Engineering by Region

View the Most Popular Engineering Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 11,021
Mechanical Engineering 9,007
Civil Engineering 6,042
Computer Engineering 5,557
Biomedical Engineering 4,252
General Engineering 3,548
Systems Engineering 3,068
Industrial Engineering 3,028
Chemical Engineering 2,662
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 2,375
Other Engineering 1,820
Materials Engineering 1,810
Operations Research 1,191
Electrical and Computer Engineering. 928
Environmental Engineering 919
Robotics Engineering 560
Engineering Science 451
Nuclear Engineering 437
Manufacturing Engineering 423
Petroleum Engineering 401
Agricultural Engineering 332
Construction Engineering 288
Engineering Physics 286
Architectural Engineering 243
Geoscience Engineering 173
Polymer & Plastics Engineering 167
Engineering Mechanics 144
Mining Engineering 132
Ocean Engineering 112
Textile Engineering 96
Biological Engineering 80
Energy Systems Engineering 79
Marine Engineering 44
Metallurgical Engineering 40
Biochemical Engineering 21
Ceramic Engineering 20
Electromechanical Engineering 16
Surveying Engineering 11
Paper Science & Engineering 7

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 28,851
Mathematics & Statistics 15,127
Physical Sciences 12,705
Engineering Technologies 7,672

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Petty Officer 3rd Class Declan Barnes.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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