College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2025 Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania

10 Colleges in Pennsylvania
530 Bachelor's Degrees
$77,384 Avg Early-Career Salary
Chemical Engineering is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #51 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 10 schools in Pennsylvania to determine which ones were the best for chemical engineering students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 530 bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Chemical Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania Your choice of chemical engineering for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality chem eng program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for chemical engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Chemical Engineering Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Chem Eng Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Chemical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in Pennsylvania list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Chemical Engineering in Pennsylvania

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering.

10 Top Pennsylvania Schools for a Bachelor's in Chem Eng

1
Lehigh crest
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA

Lehigh University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Bethlehem.

Those chemical engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from Lehigh University receive $5,051 more than the typical chem eng graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Lehigh University

2
41 Annual Graduates

Carnegie Mellon University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University

3
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia.

Those chemical engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Pennsylvania make $4,337 more than the typical chem eng graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from University of Pennsylvania

4
73 Annual Graduates
$73,072 Median Starting Salary
$33,739 Median Student Debt

University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering. Pitt is a fairly large public university located in the city of Pittsburgh.

Soon after graduating, chem eng bachelor's recipients typically earn around $73,072 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

5
Villanova crest
Villanova University
Villanova, PA

Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Villanova.

Soon after graduation, chem eng bachelor's recipients usually earn about $72,379 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Villanova University

6
Drexel crest
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
76 Annual Graduates
$77,528 Median Starting Salary
$59,018 Median Student Debt

Drexel is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the chem eng program make about $77,528 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Drexel University

7
Bucknell crest
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA

Bucknell is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Lewisburg.

Chemical Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from Bucknell University earn a boost of approximately $3,269 above the typical earnings of chemical engineering majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Bucknell University

8
Lafayette crest
Lafayette College
Easton, PA

Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the chemical engineering degree program at Lafayette College get $2,218 above the average college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Lafayette College

9
16 Annual Graduates
$73,072 Median Starting Salary
$33,739 Median Student Debt

Pitt Johnstown is a small public university located in the suburb of Johnstown.

Soon after graduation, chem eng bachelor's recipients typically make about $73,072 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown

10
Widener crest
Widener University
Chester, PA

Located in the suburb of Chester, Widener is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the chem eng program earn about $71,160 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from Widener University

Best Chemical Engineering Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Chemical Engineering Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
New York 275 564
Maryland 207 192
New Jersey 193 286
Delaware 130 75
District of Columbia 126 22

View All Rankings >

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

Chem Eng Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Chemical Engineering 494
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering 36

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 1,669
Electrical Engineering 723
Civil Engineering 697
Biomedical Engineering 525
Computer Engineering 490
General Engineering 286
Industrial Engineering 283
Environmental Engineering 131
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 126
Architectural Engineering 100

Notes and References

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options