Rankings by major · 269 schools scored

Best colleges for computer engineering

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for computer 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 computer engineering schools: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Duke University, University of California San Diego.

Top 100 colleges for computer 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 Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	100	Standout	357	3.9%	1.42×	42%
2	Duke University Durham, NC	97	Standout	122	4.5%	1.55×	5%
3	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	95	Standout	170	1.8%	1.33×	29%
4	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	94	Standout	110	1.2%	1.36×	45%
5	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	93	Standout	79	0.8%	2.04×	9%
6	Northeastern University Boston, MA	93	Standout	123	2.7%	1.21×	5%
7	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	92	Standout	40	0.6%	1.48×	10%
8	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	91	Standout	110	1.2%	1.27×	16%
9	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	91	Standout	157	3.8%	1.14×	13%
10	University of Washington Seattle, WA	90	Standout	44	0.5%	1.51×	39%
11	Boston University Boston, MA	90	Standout	110	2.3%	1.21×	13%
12	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	89	Standout	244	2.7%	1.18×	29%
13	University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	89	Standout	65	0.9%	1.29×	38%
14	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	88	Standout	54	1%	1.32×	17%
15	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	88	Standout	104	1%	1.14×	20%
16	Columbia University New York, NY	87	Standout	25	0.9%	1.73×	5%
17	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	87	Standout	430	3.6%	1.10×	51%
18	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	87	Standout	110	1.2%	1.30×	44%
19	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	86	Standout	16	0.5%	–	5%
20	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	85	Standout	308	3.6%	1.08×	50%
21	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	85	Standout	124	1.2%	1.07×	45%
22	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	85	Standout	208	2.7%	1.09×	55%
23	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	84	Standout	12	0.7%	–	8%
24	New York University New York, NY	84	Standout	44	0.6%	1.13×	9%
25	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	84	Standout	14	0.5%	–	11%
26	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	83	Standout	178	1.3%	1.13×	52%
27	Stony Brook University–SUNY Stony Brook, NY	83	Standout	58	1.1%	1.14×	49%
28	University of California, Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	82	Standout	128	2.7%	1.11×	66%
29	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	82	Standout	10	0.4%	–	6%
30	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	82	Standout	18	0.7%	–	7%
31	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	81	Standout	89	1.3%	1.19×	68%
32	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	81	Standout	71	0.8%	1.07×	80%
33	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY	81	Standout	168	6.8%	1.10×	71%
34	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	80	Standout	21	0.9%	–	12%
35	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	80	Standout	82	0.8%	1.00×	61%
36	Arizona State University Tempe, AZ	80	Standout	103	0.7%	1.00×	88%
37	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	79	Strong	66	0.9%	1.01×	60%
38	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	79	Strong	124	1.9%	0.98×	42%
39	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	79	Strong	83	5.1%	1.46×	48%
40	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ	78	Strong	110	11.8%	1.10×	51%
41	Binghamton University–SUNY Binghamton, NY	78	Strong	54	1.4%	1.05×	37%
42	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	78	Strong	80	1.4%	1.03×	54%
43	The University of Texas–Dallas Richardson, TX	77	Strong	208	4%	1.00×	65%
44	Tufts University Medford, MA	77	Strong	9	0.4%	–	11%
45	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	77	Strong	94	2.4%	1.05×	70%
46	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	76	Strong	32	0.5%	1.05×	87%
47	California Polytechnic State University–San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	76	Strong	144	2.9%	1.33×	30%
48	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	76	Strong	30	0.3%	1.02×	24%
49	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	75	Strong	88	1.7%	0.98×	59%
50	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	75	Strong	34	0.6%	1.02×	87%
51	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	75	Strong	30	1.4%	1.04×	65%
52	Auburn University Auburn, AL	74	Strong	100	1.7%	0.99×	46%
53	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	74	Strong	26	0.8%	–	19%
54	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	74	Strong	175	1.2%	0.95×	43%
55	University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL	73	Strong	75	4.5%	0.94×	74%
56	University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	73	Strong	44	1.7%	1.01×	72%
57	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	73	Strong	119	1.3%	1.04×	37%
58	George Washington University Washington, DC	72	Strong	4	0.1%	–	47%
59	Villanova University Villanova, PA	72	Strong	38	1.8%	1.06×	28%
60	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	72	Strong	12	0.7%	–	35%
61	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	72	Strong	24	0.3%	–	71%
62	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	71	Strong	2	0.1%	–	48%
63	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	71	Strong	24	1.7%	1.04×	29%
64	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA	71	Strong	34	3.1%	1.40×	29%
65	University of Delaware Newark, DE	70	Strong	28	0.6%	0.99×	71%
66	CUNY–City College New York, NY	70	Strong	49	2.1%	1.04×	60%
67	University of South Florida Tampa, FL	70	Strong	52	0.5%	0.97×	43%
68	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	69	Strong	64	1.1%	–	80%
69	Chapman University Orange, CA	69	Strong	13	0.6%	–	72%
70	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	69	Strong	32	0.6%	0.97×	81%
71	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	69	Strong	27	4.3%	1.02×	55%
72	United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO	68	Strong	32	3.1%	–	14%
73	University of South Carolina Columbia, SC	68	Strong	34	0.5%	0.97×	60%
74	University of St. Thomas (MN) St. Paul, MN	68	Strong	12	0.8%	–	85%
75	Iowa State University of Science and Technology Ames, IA	67	Strong	269	4.1%	0.94×	89%
76	Clemson University Clemson, SC	67	Strong	48	0.9%	0.92×	38%
77	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	67	Strong	20	0.5%	0.99×	46%
78	University of Tennessee–Knoxville Knoxville, TN	66	Strong	19	0.3%	0.94×	42%
79	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	66	Strong	52	2.9%	0.89×	65%
80	University of California, Riverside Riverside, CA	66	Strong	46	0.8%	0.95×	86%
81	The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK	65	Strong	41	0.9%	0.94×	77%
82	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	65	Strong	9	0.5%	–	75%
83	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	65	Strong	52	0.6%	0.93×	85%
84	University of New Hampshire Durham, NH	65	Strong	10	0.3%	–	88%
85	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	64	Solid	24	0.4%	–	89%
86	University of Nebraska – Lincoln Lincoln, NE	64	Solid	76	1.7%	0.93×	87%
87	University of Houston Houston, TX	64	Solid	32	0.4%	0.96×	74%
88	University of Washington Bothell Bothell, WA	63	Solid	16	0.9%	1.51×	88%
89	Washington State University Pullman, WA	63	Solid	41	0.7%	1.02×	86%
90	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	63	Solid	60	4.8%	0.89×	73%
91	University of Missouri Columbia, MO	62	Solid	15	0.3%	1.00×	78%
92	Seattle University Seattle, WA	62	Solid	14	1%	–	77%
93	Union College Schenectady, NY	62	Solid	6	1.2%	–	44%
94	University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK	61	Solid	6	0.8%	–	62%
95	Florida International University Miami, FL	61	Solid	120	0.9%	0.90×	55%
96	University of the Pacific Stockton, CA	61	Solid	14	1.6%	–	71%
97	University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	61	Solid	62	0.9%	0.91×	85%
98	The College of New Jersey Ewing, NJ	60	Solid	15	0.9%	–	64%
99	University of Denver Denver, CO	60	Solid	8	0.5%	–	85%
100	University of Massachusetts–Lowell Lowell, MA	60	Solid	60	2.1%	0.87×	83%

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

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