Rankings by major · 189 schools scored

Best colleges for mechanical engineering

Every school we cover is scored 0–100 for mechanical 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 mechanical engineering schools: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of Michigan–Ann Arbor.

Top 100 colleges for mechanical 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	98	Standout	141	12.8%	1.43×	5%
2	Princeton University Princeton, NJ	91	Standout	45	3.6%	1.26×	4%
3	University of Michigan–Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	89	Standout	239	3%	1.15×	16%
4	Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA	87	Standout	437	10.9%	1.08×	13%
4	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	87	Standout	107	6.6%	1.15×	11%
4	Rice University Houston, TX	87	Standout	65	6.3%	1.18×	8%
7	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	86	Standout	132	3.5%	1.22×	9%
8	Tufts University Medford, MA	85	Standout	79	5.3%	1.10×	11%
8	United States Military Academy at West Point West Point, NY	85	Standout	63	5.9%	–	12%
8	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	85	Standout	40	2.8%	1.20×	8%
11	The University of Texas–Austin Austin, TX	84	Standout	275	2.7%	1.13×	27%
11	Duke University Durham, NC	84	Standout	73	3.9%	1.31×	5%
11	Stanford University Stanford, CA	84	Standout	56	3.5%	1.27×	4%
14	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	82	Standout	101	4.7%	1.08×	11%
14	Columbia University New York, NY	82	Standout	75	3.4%	1.21×	5%
16	Northeastern University Boston, MA	81	Standout	231	5.2%	1.12×	5%
16	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	81	Standout	72	5.8%	1.05×	29%
16	Lafayette College Easton, PA	81	Standout	54	7.8%	1.10×	31%
16	United States Naval Academy Annapolis, MD	81	Standout	45	4%	–	9%
20	Purdue University–Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	80	Standout	478	5.6%	1.11×	50%
20	University of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	80	Standout	327	3.9%	1.09×	45%
20	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	80	Standout	54	3.1%	1.10×	6%
23	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	79	Strong	162	10.3%	1.01×	63%
23	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	79	Strong	72	3.5%	1.07×	7%
23	California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA	79	Strong	36	16.5%	–	3%
26	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	78	Strong	211	17.6%	1.06×	62%
26	University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	78	Strong	187	2%	1.18×	9%
26	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ	78	Strong	180	19.4%	1.09×	51%
26	Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA	78	Strong	46	5.2%	1.08×	29%
30	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	77	Strong	106	8.2%	1.02×	35%
31	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	76	Strong	469	3.5%	1.06×	52%
31	University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, WI	76	Strong	218	2.9%	1.03×	45%
31	University of Rochester Rochester, NY	76	Strong	64	3.3%	1.03×	42%
31	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	76	Strong	53	1.8%	1.24×	5%
35	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	75	Strong	321	26.9%	1.05×	61%
36	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	74	Strong	342	4.7%	1.05×	55%
36	Michigan State University East Lansing, MI	74	Strong	279	3.1%	1.06×	85%
36	Harvard University Cambridge, MA	74	Strong	20	1.2%	–	4%
39	University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	73	Strong	146	3.1%	0.99×	59%
39	University of Delaware Newark, DE	73	Strong	136	3.1%	1.02×	71%
39	Villanova University Villanova, PA	73	Strong	73	4.1%	1.06×	28%
39	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	73	Strong	36	2.6%	1.33×	48%
43	Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO	72	Strong	103	5.6%	1.04×	12%
43	University of Tulsa Tulsa, OK	72	Strong	46	6.5%	0.99×	62%
45	University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	71	Strong	188	2.1%	1.30×	11%
45	University of California San Diego La Jolla, CA	71	Strong	147	1.7%	1.13×	29%
47	Auburn University Auburn, AL	70	Strong	230	4.1%	1.01×	46%
47	University of Minnesota–Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	70	Strong	187	2.5%	0.98×	80%
47	Boston University Boston, MA	70	Strong	124	2.6%	1.04×	13%
47	University of Washington Seattle, WA	70	Strong	121	1.4%	1.11×	39%
47	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	70	Strong	71	1.6%	1.03×	17%
52	North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC	69	Strong	250	3.8%	0.95×	42%
52	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	69	Strong	228	2.7%	1.03×	42%
52	University of Connecticut Storrs, CT	69	Strong	172	3.2%	0.98×	54%
52	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	69	Strong	101	1.9%	1.14×	10%
52	Union College Schenectady, NY	69	Strong	34	7%	0.93×	44%
52	Yale University New Haven, CT	69	Strong	18	1.3%	–	5%
58	Clemson University Clemson, SC	68	Strong	217	4.3%	0.99×	38%
58	University of Dayton Dayton, OH	68	Strong	166	8.4%	0.96×	65%
58	Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX	68	Strong	49	2.6%	0.98×	48%
61	University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	67	Strong	284	3.3%	1.08×	29%
61	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	67	Strong	268	2.8%	1.05×	20%
61	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	67	Strong	183	5.3%	1.02×	70%
61	University of Massachusetts–Amherst Amherst, MA	67	Strong	153	2.4%	1.05×	60%
61	Marquette University Milwaukee, WI	67	Strong	72	3.7%	1.02×	87%
61	Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO	67	Strong	36	2.4%	1.08×	75%
67	The Pennsylvania State University–University Park University Park, PA	66	Strong	374	3.6%	0.96×	61%
67	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	66	Strong	262	3.9%	1.01×	78%
67	The Catholic University of America Washington, DC	66	Strong	32	4.1%	0.98×	83%
70	The Ohio State University Columbus, OH	65	Strong	218	1.9%	1.05×	51%
70	Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO	65	Strong	201	4%	1.02×	89%
70	New York University New York, NY	65	Strong	100	1.5%	1.00×	9%
73	University at Buffalo–SUNY Buffalo, NY	64	Solid	220	4.3%	0.92×	81%
73	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	64	Solid	42	1.2%	0.99×	46%
73	George Washington University Washington, DC	64	Solid	37	1.3%	1.10×	47%
76	Rutgers University–New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ	63	Solid	182	2.1%	1.03×	58%
76	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY	63	Solid	155	23.9%	0.98×	77%
76	University of California, Davis Davis, CA	63	Solid	153	1.7%	1.11×	44%
76	University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	63	Solid	147	2.7%	0.99×	87%
76	University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	63	Solid	111	4.2%	1.03×	72%
76	University of San Diego San Diego, CA	63	Solid	62	4.3%	1.00×	54%
82	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	62	Solid	203	15.3%	1.00×	73%
83	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY	61	Solid	173	7.3%	1.01×	71%
83	University of Kentucky Lexington, KY	61	Solid	156	3.1%	0.98×	93%
83	University of Massachusetts–Lowell Lowell, MA	61	Solid	156	5.5%	1.03×	83%
83	University of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	61	Solid	82	1.3%	1.13×	38%
83	Baylor University Waco, TX	61	Solid	53	1.6%	1.01×	52%
88	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	60	Solid	228	12.2%	0.97×	65%
88	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	60	Solid	224	3.3%	1.03×	71%
88	CUNY–City College New York, NY	60	Solid	100	4.1%	1.06×	60%
88	University of St. Thomas (MN) St. Paul, MN	60	Solid	79	5.1%	1.00×	85%
88	Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles, CA	60	Solid	39	2.3%	1.04×	45%
88	Fairfield University Fairfield, CT	60	Solid	38	3.6%	0.99×	33%
88	Virginia Military Institute Lexington, VA	60	Solid	19	4.9%	0.83×	74%
88	United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, CO	60	Solid	9	0.9%	–	14%
96	Washington State University Pullman, WA	59	Solid	221	3.6%	1.02×	86%
96	University of Iowa Iowa City, IA	59	Solid	101	2%	0.97×	80%
96	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	59	Solid	70	11.2%	0.95×	55%
96	University of Denver Denver, CO	59	Solid	25	1.9%	1.01×	85%
100	University of California, Merced Merced, CA	58	Solid	150	8%	1.03×	91%

89 more schools are on the full mechanical 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 mechanical engineering," updated October 13, 2026, https://prefrosh.ai/majors/mechanical-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 mechanical engineering

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