Rankings by major · 264 schools scored

Best colleges for engineering

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for engineering. The score blends how graduates in the major do four years out against the national norm for the same major, the strength of the student body, how many undergraduate courses the department lists, and the size of the program. Small programs (under five graduates a year) are capped. 80 and up is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid.

The top engineering schools: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University.

Top 100 colleges for 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	99	Standout	422	38.4%	1.38×	5%
2	Stanford University Stanford, CA	96	Standout	259	16.2%	1.24×	4%
3	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	95	Standout	411	25.4%	1.70×	11%
3	Duke University Durham, NC	95	Standout	309	16.7%	1.36×	5%
3	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	95	Standout	211	16.8%	1.27×	4%
3	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	95	Standout	84	38.5%	–	3%
7	Columbia University New York, NY	94	Standout	308	13.9%	1.36×	5%
7	Rice University Houston, TX	94	Standout	177	17.3%	1.22×	8%
9	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	93	Standout	527	13.9%	1.26×	9%
9	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	93	Standout	285	19.8%	1.13×	8%
11	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	92	Standout	319	15.5%	1.18×	7%
11	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	92	Standout	226	13.2%	1.16×	6%
13	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	91	Standout	1,107	13.8%	1.14×	16%
13	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	91	Standout	310	14.3%	1.09×	11%
15	Northeastern University Boston, MA	90	Standout	894	20%	1.16×	5%
15	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	90	Standout	234	8.2%	1.25×	5%
17	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	89	Standout	1,964	48.9%	1.12×	13%
18	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	88	Standout	1,381	13.3%	1.21×	27%
18	United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO	88	Standout	292	28.6%	–	14%
18	Dartmouth College Hanover, NH	88	Standout	90	8.6%	1.21×	6%
18	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	88	Standout	87	5.1%	–	4%
18	Harvey Mudd College Claremont, CA	88	Standout	53	23.3%	1.37×	13%
23	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	87	Standout	1,160	13.2%	1.57×	11%
23	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	87	Standout	475	10.6%	1.15×	17%
23	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	87	Standout	453	8.3%	1.19×	10%
23	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	87	Standout	256	13.9%	1.06×	12%
23	Yale University New Haven, CT	87	Standout	103	7.3%	–	5%
28	Tufts University Medford, MA	86	Standout	242	16.4%	1.08×	11%
29	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	85	Standout	1,818	21.6%	1.15×	42%
29	United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD	85	Standout	361	32.4%	–	9%
29	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	85	Standout	305	24.4%	1.09×	29%
32	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	84	Standout	1,013	12%	1.10×	45%
32	University of Washington Seattle, WA	84	Standout	855	9.9%	1.13×	39%
32	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	84	Standout	706	7.6%	1.27×	9%
32	United States Military Academy at West Point West Point, NY	84	Standout	213	20.1%	–	12%
32	Brown University Providence, RI	84	Standout	106	6.3%	1.16×	5%
37	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	83	Standout	1,006	13.5%	1.04×	45%
37	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	83	Standout	403	31.1%	1.01×	35%
37	Boston University Boston, MA	83	Standout	401	8.5%	1.09×	13%
37	Lafayette College Easton, PA	83	Standout	134	19.3%	1.13×	31%
41	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	82	Standout	2,251	26.6%	1.07×	50%
41	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	82	Standout	214	15.4%	1.37×	48%
41	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA	82	Standout	172	19.5%	1.17×	29%
41	University of Chicago Chicago, IL	82	Standout	39	2.2%	–	4%
45	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	81	Standout	2,334	17.5%	1.05×	52%
45	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	81	Standout	1,788	24.6%	1.07×	55%
45	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	81	Standout	1,726	15.1%	1.04×	51%
45	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ	81	Standout	503	54.1%	1.09×	51%
45	New York University New York, NY	81	Standout	278	4.1%	1.04×	9%
45	Villanova University Villanova, PA	81	Standout	238	13.5%	1.05×	28%
51	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	80	Standout	1,501	23%	1.00×	42%
51	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	80	Standout	1,211	12.5%	1.05×	20%
51	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	80	Standout	940	10.6%	1.14×	29%
51	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	80	Standout	917	76.9%	1.05×	61%
51	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	80	Standout	602	38.4%	1.01×	63%
56	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	79	Strong	207	10.8%	1.02×	42%
57	George Washington University Washington, DC	78	Strong	146	5%	1.11×	47%
57	University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK	78	Strong	124	17.6%	1.07×	62%
57	Tulane University of Louisiana New Orleans, LA	78	Strong	60	2.9%	1.21×	14%
60	University of Delaware Newark, DE	77	Strong	406	9.3%	1.03×	71%
60	University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC	77	Strong	149	3.1%	1.05×	17%
62	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	76	Strong	1,587	15.4%	1.00×	61%
62	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	76	Strong	969	11.4%	1.02×	58%
62	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	76	Strong	816	9.3%	1.11×	44%
62	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	76	Strong	732	61.2%	1.05×	62%
62	Wake Forest University Winston Salem, NC	76	Strong	36	2.8%	–	22%
67	Auburn University Auburn, AL	75	Strong	969	17.1%	1.02×	46%
67	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	75	Strong	853	9.6%	1.04×	85%
67	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	75	Strong	635	11.8%	1.00×	54%
70	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	74	Strong	1,044	12%	1.10×	29%
70	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	74	Strong	585	12.4%	0.98×	59%
72	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	73	Strong	865	12.8%	1.06×	78%
72	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	73	Strong	786	10.3%	0.98×	80%
74	University of Miami Coral Gables, FL	71	Strong	186	6.4%	1.00×	19%
74	Trinity College Hartford, CT	71	Strong	22	4.3%	–	30%
76	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	70	Strong	677	19.7%	1.03×	70%
76	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY	70	Strong	576	24.2%	1.06×	71%
76	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	70	Strong	516	8.2%	1.03×	60%
76	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	70	Strong	405	20.6%	0.97×	65%
76	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	70	Strong	136	7.1%	0.98×	48%
76	Smith College Northampton, MA	70	Strong	30	5%	0.97×	21%
82	University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	69	Strong	239	3.8%	1.19×	38%
82	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI	69	Strong	232	11.8%	1.01×	87%
82	Swarthmore College Swarthmore, PA	69	Strong	33	7.9%	0.88×	7%
82	Washington and Lee University Lexington, VA	69	Strong	16	3.6%	–	14%
86	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	68	Strong	145	10.1%	1.03×	54%
86	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	68	Strong	140	9.2%	1.01×	75%
86	Union College Schenectady, NY	68	Strong	77	15.8%	0.92×	44%
89	Clemson University Clemson, SC	67	Strong	938	18.5%	0.97×	38%
89	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	67	Strong	468	8.5%	0.99×	87%
89	University of Georgia Athens, GA	67	Strong	424	5.2%	1.00×	38%
89	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	67	Strong	273	43.5%	0.99×	55%
89	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	67	Strong	199	5.8%	0.99×	46%
94	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	66	Strong	760	14.7%	0.94×	81%
94	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	66	Strong	711	38%	0.98×	65%
94	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	66	Strong	431	8.6%	0.96×	80%
94	Stony Brook University–SUNY Stony Brook, NY	66	Strong	300	6.5%	1.02×	49%
94	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	66	Strong	81	10.5%	0.97×	83%
99	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	65	Strong	77	4.6%	1.10×	45%
99	Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX	65	Strong	51	2.2%	1.05×	48%

164 more schools are on the full engineering ranking.

How this ranking works

Updated October 13, 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 engineering," updated October 13, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/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 engineering

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