2025 Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

If you pursue a doctor's degree in civil engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #29 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Civil Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 46 doctor's degrees in civil engineering to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of doctorate graduates during the early years of their career. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their doctor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

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

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to civil engineering students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other civil engineering students want to attend this school to pursue a doctor's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt civil engineering students go into to obtain their doctor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized civil engineering related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for civil engineering students working on their doctor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Civil Engineering in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in civil engineering.

Top Illinois Schools for a Doctorate in Civil Eng

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

10 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is a good choice for individuals pursuing a doctor's degree in civil engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from Northwestern University

2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

25 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in civil engineering has to check out University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a doctorate in civil engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Best Civil Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Civil Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	149	36
Ohio	144	25
Indiana	132	54
Wisconsin	108	13

View All Rankings >

Civil Engineering Related Rankings by Major

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

Civil Eng Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Civil Engineering	46

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering	96
Mechanical Engineering	89
Chemical Engineering	73
Materials Engineering	68
Biomedical Engineering	50
Industrial Engineering	20
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	12
Nuclear Engineering	9
Engineering Mechanics	6
Agricultural Engineering	4

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Master Sgt. Roger Parsons. More about our data sources and methodologies.