Rankings by major · 69 schools scored

Best colleges for aerospace engineering

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for aerospace engineering. The score 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 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top aerospace engineering schools: Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor, University of Colorado Boulder.

Top 69 colleges for aerospace engineering
Rank	School	Score (0–100)	Tier	Graduates per year in the major	Share of the class	Pay vs. national, same major	Acceptance rate
1	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	100	Standout	220	5.3%	1.07×	13%
2	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	94	Standout	134	1.5%	1.20×	16%
3	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	91	Standout	208	2.8%	1.22×	78%
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	89	Standout	58	4.1%	1.20×	5%
5	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	87	Standout	222	2.9%	1.12×	55%
6	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	85	Standout	118	1.1%	1.09×	27%
7	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	84	Standout	306	3.5%	1.02×	50%
8	Stanford University Stanford, CA	82	Standout	10	0.6%	–	4%
9	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	81	Standout	141	1.6%	1.03×	45%
10	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	79	Strong	52	0.9%	1.31×	10%
11	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	78	Strong	128	1.4%	1.02×	42%
12	University of Washington Seattle, WA	77	Strong	68	0.7%	1.17×	39%
13	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	76	Strong	25	0.9%	1.08×	11%
14	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	74	Strong	119	1.1%	1.04×	61%
15	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	73	Strong	174	1.3%	1.02×	52%
16	United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO	72	Strong	117	11.3%	–	14%
17	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	71	Strong	46	2.7%	1.11×	35%
18	California State Polytechnic University–Pomona Pomona, CA	69	Strong	144	2.3%	1.11×	74%
19	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	68	Strong	133	1.3%	0.99×	20%
20	California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	67	Strong	108	2.2%	1.13×	30%
21	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	66	Strong	204	1.4%	1.01×	43%
22	Auburn University Auburn, AL	65	Strong	86	1.5%	1.08×	46%
23	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University–Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL	63	Solid	273	20.3%	1.00×	66%
24	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	62	Solid	90	1%	1.05×	37%
25	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	61	Solid	62	4.8%	1.10×	62%
26	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	60	Solid	28	4.5%	1.16×	55%
27	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	60	Solid	8	0.2%	–	19%
28	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	60	Solid	72	0.8%	0.97×	80%
29	University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL	59	Solid	122	7.3%	0.91×	74%
30	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	58	Solid	63	0.6%	1.21×	9%
31	California State University, Long Beach Long Beach, CA	58	Solid	94	1%	1.07×	45%
32	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	57	Solid	101	1.8%	0.97×	81%
33	Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA	56	Solid	140	2.1%	0.98×	89%
34	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	55	Solid	114	7.8%	0.99×	63%
35	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	54	Solid	34	1.9%	–	75%
36	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	53	Solid	86	0.7%	0.97×	51%
37	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	52	Solid	58	1%	0.93×	42%
38	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	52	Solid	77	6.1%	1.01×	73%
39	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	51	Solid	96	1.1%	1.05×	29%
40	Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK	50	Solid	98	2%	0.95×	75%
41	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	49	Solid	118	0.8%	1.01×	88%
42	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	48	Solid	85	0.9%	1.05×	29%
43	Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL	48	Solid	86	13%	1.02×	58%
44	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	47	Solid	70	1.1%	0.94×	42%
45	The University of Texas–Arlington Arlington, TX	46	Solid	40	0.5%	1.04×	80%
46	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	45	Solid	80	1.8%	0.99×	89%
47	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University–Prescott Prescott, AZ	44	Light	136	23.5%	1.00×	75%
48	New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM	43	Light	74	3.1%	1.01×	78%
49	United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD	42	Light	47	4.3%	–	9%
50	University of South Carolina Columbia, SC	42	Light	16	0.2%	–	60%
51	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	40	Light	78	1.1%	0.96×	71%
52	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	39	Light	46	0.5%	0.99×	58%
53	Wichita State University Wichita, KS	38	Light	60	2.6%	0.87×	95%
54	University of Hartford West Hartford, CT	37	Light	2	0.2%	–	83%
55	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	36	Light	40	1%	0.95×	46%
56	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS	35	Light	75	1.7%	0.93×	78%
57	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	33	Light	60	0.9%	0.93×	85%
58	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	32	Light	36	0.8%	0.94×	77%
59	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	30	Light	46	1%	0.97×	93%
60	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	30	Light	44	0.8%	0.90×	17%
61	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	30	Light	50	0.6%	0.91×	86%
62	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	30	Light	74	0.8%	0.98×	44%
63	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	30	Light	71	1%	–	80%
64	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI	28	Light	42	1.1%	0.99×	85%
65	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY	26	Light	44	6.2%	0.95×	77%
66	Tuskegee University Tuskegee, AL	24	Light	11	2.7%	–	31%
67	Morehead State University Morehead, KY	21	Light	14	1.4%	–	84%
68	Kent State University Kent, OH	16	Light	12	0.3%	–	86%
69	University of Akron Akron, OH	3	Light	16	0.7%	–	83%

How this ranking works

Updated October 18, 2026. Sources: early-career pay for graduates of each program, by field of study (College Scorecard), graduates per year in the major (IPEDS), undergraduate courses listed in each department's current catalog, and the student body's test scores. Inputs that are missing for a school are dropped and the rest reweighted; programs with fewer than five graduates a year are capped at 30. Scores are relative to the other schools covered, from 0 to 100.

To cite: prefrosh.ai, "Best colleges for aerospace engineering," updated October 18, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/aerospace-engineering. For a specific student's chances at these schools, use Chance me, which reads odds from the student's own high school's admissions chart.

See your odds of getting in · All rankings by major · Overall ranking

Best colleges for aerospace engineering

How this ranking works

Rankings for other majors