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2024 Best Materials Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

14 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
731 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$69,386 Avg Early-Career Salary
Materials Engineering is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #154 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 14 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for materials engineering students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 731 degrees in materials engineering during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Materials Engineering School

Best Materials Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of materials engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Materials Engineering School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Materials Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Materials Engineering
Master's Degrees in Materials Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Materials Engineering

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Materials Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Materials Engineering in the Great Lakes Region

If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the materials engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Materials Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IL
66 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in materials engineering. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were approximately 66 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
114 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
14.9% Growth in Graduates

Purdue University - Main Campus is a great option for students pursuing a degree in materials engineering. Purdue is a very large public university located in the small city of West Lafayette. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.

There were roughly 114 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the materials engineering program make about $69,257 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Purdue University - Main Campus

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
74 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$73,854 Median Starting Salary

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in materials engineering. U-M is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were about 74 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Those materials engineering students who get their degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earn $4,468 more than the average materials engineering graduate.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
123 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
11.4% Growth in Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in materials engineering. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were about 123 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, materials engineering degree recipients generally make about $64,436 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
85 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
29.4% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were approximately 85 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. After graduation, materials engineering degree recipients usually make an average of $64,892 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of Wisconsin - Madison

6

UDayton is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Dayton. This university ranks 6th out of 96 colleges for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were about 26 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UDayton in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the materials engineering degree program at University of Dayton make $17,574 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of Dayton

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
94 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$67,817 Median Starting Salary

Ohio State is a very large public university located in the large city of Columbus. A Best Colleges rank of #69 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.

There were about 94 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, materials engineering degree recipients generally earn about $67,817 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Ohio State University - Main Campus

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In OH
16.7% Growth in Graduates

Case Western is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Cleveland. A Best Colleges rank of #63 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Case Western is a great university overall.

There were roughly 24 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Case Western in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Case Western Reserve University

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
33 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$67,484 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Houghton, Michigan Tech is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 57 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were approximately 33 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan Tech in the most recent data year. After graduating, materials engineering degree recipients generally earn an average of $67,484 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Michigan Technological University

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$68,609 Median Starting Salary
$24,385 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were roughly 28 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the materials engineering program report average early career income of $68,609.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Michigan State University

Best Materials Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best materials engineering colleges for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Michigan322183
Ohio314179
Illinois304203
Indiana29498
Wisconsin27377

View All Rankings >

Materials Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Materials Engineering Focus Areas

MajorAnnual Graduates
General Materials Engineering731

View All Materials Engineering Concentrations >

Related MajorAnnual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering7,839
Electrical Engineering4,071
Computer Engineering3,068
Civil Engineering2,640
Chemical Engineering2,255
Biomedical Engineering1,942
Industrial Engineering1,686
General Engineering1,677
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering1,443
Other Engineering540

View All Materials Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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