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2024 Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

38 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
2,925 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$62,958 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in civil engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #50 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 38 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,925 degrees in civil engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Civil Engineering School

Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region The civil eng program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Civil Engineering rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for civil engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Civil Engineering Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Civil Eng
Master's Degrees in Civil Eng
Doctor's Degrees in Civil Eng

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Civil Engineering in the Great Lakes Region

The schools below may not offer all types of civil eng degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Civil Eng

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
4th Most Popular In IL
72 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded

Any student pursuing a degree in civil engineering needs to check out Northwestern University. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were approximately 72 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in civil engineering from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
67 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$67,169 Median Starting Salary

University of Notre Dame is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in civil engineering. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #20 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.

There were about 67 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from University of Notre Dame receive $4,211 more than the average civil eng student.

More information about a degree in civil engineering from University of Notre Dame

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
403 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
8.9% Growth in Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great option for students interested in a degree in civil engineering. UIUC is a very large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were about 403 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Civil Engineering degree recipients from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign receive an earnings boost of around $4,223 over the typical income of civil engineering graduates.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
157 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
7.0% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat University of Wisconsin - Madison if you wish to pursue a degree in civil engineering. UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were roughly 157 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Civil Engineering degree recipients from University of Wisconsin - Madison get an earnings boost of approximately $2,827 above the average income of civil engineering majors.

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

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
273 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
3.7% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.

There were approximately 273 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the civil engineering degree program at Purdue University - Main Campus earn $4,138 above the standard graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
98 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
15.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were approximately 98 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering major at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor make $4,652 more than the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

7
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
90 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$66,002 Median Starting Salary

Michigan State is a very large public university located in the small city of East Lansing. A Best Colleges rank of #74 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 90 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from Michigan State University make $3,044 more than the typical civil eng grad.

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
174 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
2.9% Growth in Graduates

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

There were approximately 174 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the civil eng program make about $61,272 in their early career salary.

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

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
2.7% Growth in Graduates

Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Terre Haute.

There were about 37 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology in the most recent data year. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology make $4,508 more than the average civil eng grad.

More information about a degree in civil engineering from Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
9th Most Popular In OH
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #63 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Case Western is a great university overall.

There were roughly 29 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Case Western in the most recent data year.

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

Best Civil Engineering Colleges by State

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 322 438
Ohio 314 746
Illinois 304 816
Indiana 294 487
Wisconsin 273 410

View All Rankings >

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

Civil Eng Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Civil Engineering 2,884
Structural Engineering 15
Civil Engineering 12
Water Resources Engineering 8
Trasportation Engineering 6

View All Civil Eng Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 7,978
Electrical Engineering 4,524
Computer Engineering 3,259
Chemical Engineering 2,284
Biomedical Engineering 1,932
Industrial Engineering 1,927
General Engineering 1,712
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,238
Materials Engineering 740
Other Engineering 536

View All Civil Eng Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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