A degree in general manufacturing engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #447 out of 1506 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 7 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best General Manufacturing Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 174 degrees in general manufacturing engineering to qualified students.
Choosing a Great General Manufacturing Engineering School
Your choice of general manufacturing engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. For our Best Overall General Manufacturing Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Pick Your General Manufacturing Engineering Degree Level
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Manufacturing Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
Best Schools for General Manufacturing Engineering in the Great Lakes Region
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the general manufacturing engineering degree levels they offer.
Top Great Lakes Region Schools in General Manufacturing Engineering
Northwestern University is a great choice for students interested in a degree in general manufacturing engineering. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were roughly 27 general manufacturing engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available.
It is hard to beat University of Michigan - Ann Arbor if you wish to pursue a degree in general manufacturing engineering. U-M is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were approximately 12 general manufacturing engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year.
Bradley University is a good choice for students interested in a degree in general manufacturing engineering. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. This university ranks 19th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 16 general manufacturing engineering students who graduated with this degree at Bradley in the most recent data year.
University of Michigan - Dearborn is a wonderful option for students interested in a degree in general manufacturing engineering. UM Dearborn is a moderately-sized public university located in the medium-sized city of Dearborn. This university ranks 21st out of 56 colleges for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were approximately 5 general manufacturing engineering students who graduated with this degree at UM Dearborn in the most recent data year.
UW - Stout is a moderately-sized public university located in the distant town of Menomonie. This university ranks 29th out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were approximately 34 general manufacturing engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Stout in the most recent data year.
Located in the fringe town of Allendale, GVSU is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #342 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means GVSU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 20 general manufacturing engineering students who graduated with this degree at GVSU in the most recent data year.
Located in the town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 13th out of 56 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.
There were roughly 32 general manufacturing engineering students who graduated with this degree at Ferris in the most recent data year.
Rankings in Majors Related to General Manufacturing Engineering
General Manufacturing Engineering is one of 0 different types of Manufacturing Engineering programs to choose from.
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).