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2025 Best Electrical Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

48 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
4,071 EE Degrees Awarded
$83,097 Avg Early-Career Salary
Electrical Engineering is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #39 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 48 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for electrical engineering students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 4,071 degrees in electrical engineering to qualified students.

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

Choosing a Great Electrical Engineering School

Best Electrical Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region The ee program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Electrical Engineering rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for electrical 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 Electrical Engineering Degree Level

Associate Degrees in EE
Bachelor's Degrees in EE
Master's Degrees in EE
Doctor's Degrees in EE

The ee school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Electrical Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region. You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Electrical 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 ee degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in EE

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
128 EE Degrees Awarded
$95,441 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in electrical engineering needs to look into University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. Located in the medium-sized 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 128 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Electrical Engineering degree recipients from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor receive an earnings boost of approximately $12,344 over the typical earnings of electrical engineering majors.

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

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
5th Most Popular In IL
38 EE Degrees Awarded

Northwestern University is a wonderful choice for students interested in a degree in electrical engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were about 38 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
357 EE Degrees Awarded
$90,445 Median Starting Salary

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in electrical engineering. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small 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 357 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Those electrical engineering students who get their degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $7,348 more than the typical ee grad.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
387 EE Degrees Awarded
5.4% Growth in Graduates

It is hard to beat Purdue University - Main Campus if you want to pursue a degree in electrical engineering. 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 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.

There were about 387 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available. Electrical Engineering degree recipients from Purdue University - Main Campus earn a boost of about $4,227 above the average income of electrical engineering graduates.

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

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
74 EE Degrees Awarded
18.9% Growth in Graduates

Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Notre Dame. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Notre Dame is a great university overall.

There were roughly 74 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the electrical engineering major at University of Notre Dame earn $2,764 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
214 EE Degrees Awarded
$82,018 Median Starting Salary

UW - Madison is a very 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 about 214 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, ee degree recipients usually earn around $82,018 at the beginning of their careers.

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

7
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
162 EE Degrees Awarded
6.8% Growth in Graduates

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

There were roughly 162 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the ee program make an average of $83,874 in the first couple years of their career.

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
320 EE Degrees Awarded
$80,977 Median Starting Salary

Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly 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 approximately 320 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, ee degree recipients usually make an average of $80,977 in their early careers.

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

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
43 EE Degrees Awarded
$80,062 Median Starting Salary

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

There were approximately 43 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, ee degree recipients generally make about $80,062 in the first five years of their career.

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

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
118 EE Degrees Awarded
$79,439 Median Starting Salary

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

There were about 118 electrical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, ee degree recipients generally make an average of $79,439 in their early careers.

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

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Electrical Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region award.

Rank College Location
11 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
12 University of Dayton Dayton, OH
13 University of Michigan - Dearborn Dearborn, MI
14 University of Cincinnati - Main Campus Cincinnati, OH
15 University of Illinois at Chicago Chicago, IL
16 Kettering University Flint, MI

Best Electrical Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best electrical engineering schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 322 1,132
Ohio 314 1,148
Illinois 304 1,029
Indiana 294 730
Wisconsin 273 451

View All Rankings >

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

EE Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 4,030
Optical Enginering 27
Other Electrical Engineering 14

View All EE Focus Areas >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 7,839
Computer Engineering 3,068
Civil Engineering 2,640
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 EE Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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