Rankings by major · 163 schools scored

Best colleges for chemical engineering

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for chemical 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 chemical engineering schools: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The University of Texas–Austin, University of Notre Dame.

Top 100 colleges for chemical 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	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	100	Standout	44	3.1%	1.25×	5%
2	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	96	Standout	143	1.4%	1.19×	27%
3	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	94	Standout	74	2.6%	1.17×	11%
4	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	93	Standout	176	4.3%	1.07×	13%
5	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	92	Standout	138	1.5%	1.07×	42%
6	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	91	Standout	85	0.9%	1.12×	16%
7	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	90	Standout	146	2.3%	1.08×	42%
8	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	89	Standout	126	1.2%	1.24×	11%
9	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	88	Standout	44	1.1%	1.19×	9%
10	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	87	Standout	156	1.8%	1.07×	50%
11	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	87	Standout	240	1.8%	1.14×	52%
12	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	86	Standout	34	1.2%	1.14×	7%
13	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	85	Standout	102	1%	1.04×	45%
14	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	85	Standout	156	1.5%	1.07×	61%
15	Stanford University Stanford, CA	84	Standout	11	0.7%	–	4%
16	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	83	Standout	77	0.8%	1.11×	9%
17	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	83	Standout	42	2.2%	1.13×	11%
18	University of Washington Seattle, WA	82	Standout	72	0.8%	1.13×	39%
19	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	81	Standout	30	1.2%	1.25×	6%
20	Columbia University New York, NY	81	Standout	20	0.7%	–	5%
21	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	80	Standout	108	1.1%	1.13×	20%
22	Northeastern University Boston, MA	80	Standout	105	2.3%	1.11×	5%
23	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	79	Strong	32	0.9%	1.13×	5%
24	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	79	Strong	60	0.7%	1.05×	45%
25	University of Delaware Newark, DE	78	Strong	80	1.7%	1.07×	71%
26	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	77	Strong	28	2.2%	–	4%
27	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	77	Strong	78	1.6%	1.17×	73%
28	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	76	Strong	170	1.4%	1.02×	51%
29	Rice University Houston, TX	76	Strong	27	2.2%	1.17×	8%
30	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	75	Strong	77	4%	0.97×	8%
31	University of Houston Houston, TX	75	Strong	82	1%	1.13×	74%
32	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	74	Strong	29	1.2%	1.11×	12%
33	Auburn University Auburn, AL	74	Strong	84	1.5%	1.10×	46%
34	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	73	Strong	80	1%	1.09×	55%
35	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	73	Strong	42	0.8%	1.09×	17%
36	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	72	Strong	60	0.8%	1.01×	60%
37	University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	72	Strong	47	0.7%	1.16×	38%
38	Yale University New Haven, CT	71	Strong	8	0.5%	–	5%
39	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	71	Strong	62	4.2%	1.01×	63%
40	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	70	Strong	38	1.6%	–	4%
41	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	70	Strong	103	1.1%	1.05×	85%
42	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	69	Strong	96	1.1%	0.96×	80%
43	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	69	Strong	38	0.6%	1.03×	10%
44	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	68	Strong	19	0.7%	–	14%
45	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	68	Strong	97	1.1%	1.03×	58%
46	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	67	Strong	84	1.6%	1.00×	59%
47	Tufts University Medford, MA	67	Strong	27	1.3%	–	11%
48	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	66	Strong	68	1%	1.05×	68%
49	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	66	Strong	115	1.2%	0.99×	29%
50	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	65	Strong	130	1.8%	1.04×	71%
51	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	65	Strong	92	1.3%	1.02×	73%
52	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	64	Solid	62	0.7%	1.05×	44%
53	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	64	Solid	61	0.7%	1.05×	86%
54	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	63	Solid	61	3.3%	1.00×	65%
55	University of South Carolina Columbia, SC	63	Solid	57	0.8%	1.01×	60%
56	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	62	Solid	48	2.9%	0.99×	35%
57	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	62	Solid	70	1.8%	1.02×	70%
58	University of Massachusetts–Lowell Lowell, MA	61	Solid	63	2.2%	0.98×	83%
59	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	61	Solid	70	0.8%	1.00×	29%
60	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	60	Solid	40	2.8%	1.05×	29%
61	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	60	Solid	126	0.8%	0.96×	88%
62	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	60	Solid	124	1.8%	1.00×	85%
63	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	60	Solid	50	0.9%	0.98×	81%
64	Villanova University Villanova, PA	60	Solid	50	2.3%	1.06×	28%
65	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	60	Solid	72	5.6%	1.03×	62%
66	Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA	60	Solid	108	1.6%	0.95×	89%
67	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	60	Solid	152	12.7%	0.97×	61%
68	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	59	Solid	57	1%	1.01×	87%
69	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	59	Solid	46	0.6%	0.98×	78%
70	California State Polytechnic University–Pomona Pomona, CA	58	Solid	94	1.5%	1.06×	74%
71	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ	58	Solid	49	5.2%	1.01×	51%
72	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	58	Solid	7	3.1%	–	3%
73	Lafayette College Easton, PA	57	Solid	26	3%	1.19×	31%
74	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	57	Solid	54	2.6%	1.00×	65%
75	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	57	Solid	52	1.1%	0.97×	77%
76	University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA	56	Solid	40	1.6%	1.05×	75%
77	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	56	Solid	65	1.2%	0.94×	42%
78	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	56	Solid	64	1.1%	0.90×	54%
79	Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI	55	Solid	83	7.1%	0.97×	92%
80	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	55	Solid	86	6.8%	0.97×	73%
81	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	55	Solid	70	1.6%	0.96×	93%
82	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	54	Solid	74	1.4%	1.00×	89%
83	Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK	54	Solid	55	1.1%	1.01×	75%
84	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	53	Solid	92	0.9%	0.97×	43%
85	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	53	Solid	40	0.4%	0.93×	24%
86	New York University New York, NY	53	Solid	42	0.6%	0.92×	9%
87	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	52	Solid	76	1.4%	1.01×	93%
88	University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA	52	Solid	56	1%	0.94×	86%
89	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR	52	Solid	80	1.4%	0.95×	79%
90	Clemson University Clemson, SC	51	Solid	64	1.2%	0.95×	38%
91	Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA	51	Solid	49	1%	1.00×	84%
92	Washington State University Pullman, WA	51	Solid	30	0.5%	1.02×	86%
93	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	50	Solid	40	0.7%	1.00×	80%
94	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS	50	Solid	81	1.8%	0.99×	78%
95	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY	50	Solid	42	1.7%	0.97×	71%
96	Miami University–Oxford Oxford, OH	49	Solid	34	0.7%	0.99×	75%
97	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	49	Solid	38	0.9%	0.99×	89%
98	University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI	49	Solid	27	0.8%	1.06×	72%
99	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	48	Solid	37	1.8%	0.95×	42%
100	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY	48	Solid	48	6.8%	0.96×	77%

63 more schools are on the full chemical engineering ranking.

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 chemical engineering," updated October 18, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/chemical-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.

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Best colleges for chemical engineering

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