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2025 Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

39 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
2,640 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$71,769 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 reviewed 39 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of civil engineering. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,640 degrees in civil engineering annually.

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
60 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded

Every student pursuing a degree in civil engineering has to take a look at Northwestern University. Located in the 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 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were roughly 60 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
313 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$75,527 Median Starting Salary

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great decision 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 #41 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were about 313 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the civil engineering program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $3,759 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
73 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
8.2% Growth in Graduates

University of Notre Dame is one of the finest 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 #29 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.

There were approximately 73 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering degree program at University of Notre Dame earn $2,730 more than the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
72 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$71,880 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in civil engineering has to look into University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were about 72 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the civil eng program make about $71,880 for their early career.

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

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
138 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$73,488 Median Starting Salary

UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were approximately 138 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the civil eng program make around $73,488 for their early career.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
159 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$68,031 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 159 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the civil eng program make an average of $68,031 in their early career salary.

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

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
257 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
$75,299 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #65 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.

There were approximately 257 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent data year. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from Purdue University - Main Campus earn $3,531 more than the typical civil eng graduate.

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

8
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
104 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
13.5% Growth in Graduates

Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing. A Best Colleges rank of #54 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Michigan State is a great university overall.

There were about 104 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the civil eng program make about $72,048 for their early career.

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

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
104 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
16.3% Growth in Graduates

Michigan Tech is a moderately-sized public university located in the town of Houghton. This university ranks 3rd out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were approximately 104 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan Tech in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, civil eng degree recipients typically earn about $72,210 in the first five years of their career.

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

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
32 Civil Eng Degrees Awarded
9.4% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #116 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Case Western is a great university overall.

There were approximately 32 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Case Western in the most recent year we have data available. Civil Engineering degree recipients from Case Western Reserve University get an earnings boost of about $2,497 above the average earnings of civil engineering graduates.

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

Best Civil Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best civil engineering schools 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 2,593
Structural Engineering 26
Civil Engineering 13
Water Resources Engineering 7
Trasportation Engineering 1

View All Civil Eng Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 7,839
Electrical Engineering 4,071
Computer Engineering 3,068
Chemical Engineering 2,255
Biomedical Engineering 1,942
Industrial Engineering 1,686
General Engineering 1,677
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,443
Materials Engineering 731
Other Engineering 540

View All Civil Eng Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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