Rankings by major · 255 schools scored

Best colleges for civil engineering

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for civil 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 civil engineering schools: University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Davis, University of Maryland, College Park.

Top 100 colleges for civil 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	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	100	Standout	104	1%	1.28×	11%
2	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	97	Standout	130	1.4%	1.13×	44%
3	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	95	Standout	112	1.2%	1.10×	45%
4	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	94	Standout	142	1.4%	1.12×	27%
5	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	93	Standout	168	1.8%	1.08×	42%
6	Northeastern University Boston, MA	92	Standout	92	2%	1.18×	5%
7	University of Washington Seattle, WA	92	Standout	118	1.2%	1.08×	39%
8	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	91	Standout	116	1.3%	1.13×	29%
9	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	91	Standout	176	2%	1.07×	50%
10	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	90	Standout	227	1.7%	1.09×	52%
11	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	89	Standout	102	1.1%	1.08×	29%
12	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	89	Standout	89	0.9%	1.14×	9%
13	California State University–Sacramento Sacramento, CA	88	Standout	145	1.9%	1.10×	92%
14	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	88	Standout	112	0.7%	1.05×	88%
15	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	87	Standout	223	2.9%	1.04×	55%
16	New York University New York, NY	87	Standout	48	0.6%	1.11×	9%
17	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	87	Standout	32	2.5%	–	4%
18	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	86	Standout	30	1.6%	1.24×	11%
19	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	85	Standout	6	0.5%	–	5%
20	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	85	Standout	82	6.8%	1.11×	61%
21	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	85	Standout	4	0.2%	–	8%
22	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	84	Standout	186	10.1%	1.03×	65%
23	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	84	Standout	184	2.1%	1.13×	37%
24	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	83	Standout	92	0.9%	1.03×	45%
25	Rice University Houston, TX	83	Standout	19	1.5%	–	8%
26	Columbia University New York, NY	83	Standout	22	0.8%	1.27×	5%
27	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	82	Standout	115	1.1%	1.02×	20%
28	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	82	Standout	66	0.9%	1.12×	78%
29	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	82	Standout	104	2.5%	1.00×	13%
30	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	81	Standout	31	0.5%	1.25×	10%
31	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	81	Standout	48	0.5%	1.05×	16%
32	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	80	Standout	81	1.1%	1.03×	60%
33	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	80	Standout	16	0.6%	–	7%
34	Duke University Durham, NC	80	Standout	14	0.5%	–	5%
35	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	79	Strong	34	0.8%	1.07×	9%
36	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	79	Strong	144	1.2%	1.00×	51%
37	Stanford University Stanford, CA	79	Strong	4	0.3%	–	4%
38	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	78	Strong	42	0.8%	1.08×	17%
39	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	78	Strong	124	1.9%	1.01×	42%
40	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	78	Strong	80	1.4%	1.03×	54%
41	California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	77	Strong	139	2.8%	1.19×	30%
42	Oregon State University Corvallis, OR	77	Strong	104	1.8%	1.06×	79%
43	California State Polytechnic University–Pomona Pomona, CA	77	Strong	290	4.6%	1.15×	74%
44	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	76	Strong	86	1.4%	1.10×	87%
45	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ	76	Strong	39	4.2%	1.09×	51%
46	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	76	Strong	119	1.6%	1.03×	71%
47	Clemson University Clemson, SC	75	Strong	128	2.4%	1.00×	38%
48	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	75	Strong	90	1%	1.06×	85%
49	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	74	Strong	156	1%	1.02×	43%
50	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	74	Strong	154	1.5%	0.96×	61%
51	Stony Brook University–SUNY Stony Brook, NY	74	Strong	36	0.7%	1.09×	49%
52	University of Georgia Athens, GA	74	Strong	60	0.7%	1.03×	38%
53	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	73	Strong	36	2.6%	1.08×	29%
54	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	73	Strong	81	0.9%	1.03×	58%
55	Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA	72	Strong	122	1.8%	1.00×	89%
56	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	72	Strong	150	2.7%	1.00×	81%
57	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	72	Strong	36	1.3%	1.01×	11%
58	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	72	Strong	72	1.1%	1.05×	85%
59	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	71	Strong	52	3.6%	1.02×	63%
60	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	71	Strong	101	1.4%	1.06×	73%
61	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	71	Strong	53	0.9%	1.00×	87%
62	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	70	Strong	101	1.9%	1.03×	89%
63	University of Houston Houston, TX	70	Strong	76	0.9%	1.05×	74%
64	George Washington University Washington, DC	70	Strong	18	0.6%	1.19×	47%
65	University of Delaware Newark, DE	69	Strong	51	1%	1.02×	71%
66	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	69	Strong	88	1.8%	1.01×	73%
67	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	69	Strong	84	0.8%	1.00×	43%
68	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	68	Strong	121	9.5%	1.00×	73%
69	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	68	Strong	97	1%	0.99×	24%
70	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	68	Strong	32	0.4%	1.08×	86%
71	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	67	Strong	44	3.5%	1.10×	62%
72	California State University, Long Beach Long Beach, CA	67	Strong	128	1.4%	1.05×	45%
73	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	67	Strong	57	1.3%	1.05×	93%
74	Washington State University Pullman, WA	66	Strong	94	1.6%	1.08×	86%
75	University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND	66	Strong	40	2.1%	1.03×	83%
76	Manhattan University Riverdale, NY	66	Strong	100	12.4%	1.13×	82%
77	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	65	Strong	52	0.6%	0.97×	80%
78	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	65	Strong	14	0.7%	–	48%
79	Lafayette College Easton, PA	65	Strong	28	3.3%	–	31%
80	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	64	Solid	26	1.6%	1.24×	48%
81	Tufts University Medford, MA	64	Solid	22	1%	1.04×	11%
82	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	64	Solid	8	0.3%	–	19%
83	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	63	Solid	54	2.6%	0.98×	65%
84	Auburn University Auburn, AL	63	Solid	116	2%	0.94×	46%
85	California State University–Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	63	Solid	68	1.3%	1.11×	91%
86	United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO	63	Solid	34	3.3%	–	14%
87	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	62	Solid	63	1.6%	1.00×	70%
88	Florida International University Miami, FL	62	Solid	150	1.2%	0.99×	55%
89	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	62	Solid	68	1.2%	0.95×	42%
90	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	61	Solid	32	0.8%	1.05×	46%
91	Utah State University Logan, UT	61	Solid	51	1.2%	1.01×	94%
92	The University of Texas–Arlington Arlington, TX	61	Solid	96	1.2%	1.02×	80%
93	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	60	Solid	25	1.4%	1.21×	45%
94	University of South Carolina Columbia, SC	60	Solid	77	1.1%	0.99×	60%
95	Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, WI	60	Solid	35	6.3%	1.09×	63%
96	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	60	Solid	18	0.7%	0.97×	6%
97	San Francisco State University San Francisco, CA	60	Solid	59	1%	1.07×	96%
98	CUNY–City College New York, NY	60	Solid	46	2%	1.03×	60%
99	University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, HI	60	Solid	86	2.7%	1.03×	87%
100	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	60	Solid	43	0.8%	0.98×	80%

155 more schools are on the full civil 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 civil engineering," updated October 18, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/civil-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 civil engineering

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