A degree in materials engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #154 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
College Factual looked at 64 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Materials Engineering Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 3,476 degrees in materials engineering to qualified students.
The materials engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Materials Engineering rankings. For our Best Overall Materials Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that 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.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Materials Engineering Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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.
Best Schools for Materials Engineering in the United States
Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the materials engineering degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It's hard to beat Stanford University if you wish to pursue a degree in materials engineering. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were roughly 96 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.
It is hard to beat Northwestern University if you wish to pursue a degree in materials engineering. 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 66 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available.
It's hard to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you want to pursue a degree in materials engineering. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.
There were roughly 76 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the materials engineering program earn about $65,919 in their early career salary.
Texas A&M University - College Station is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in materials engineering. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public university located in the city of College Station. This university ranks 1st out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were approximately 109 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Texas A&M College Station in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were approximately 66 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.
There were about 64 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available.
UF is a fairly large public university located in the city of Gainesville. This university ranks 1st out of 70 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were roughly 140 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the materials engineering degree program at University of Florida make $3,223 more than the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign. This university ranks 3rd out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 123 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. After graduating, materials engineering degree recipients usually make around $75,080 in their early careers.
Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.
There were about 120 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent data year. After graduating, materials engineering degree recipients generally make about $76,488 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.
There were approximately 114 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the materials engineering degree program at Purdue University - Main Campus earn $2,288 more than the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
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 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were approximately 74 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the materials engineering program state that they receive average early career income of $75,041.
UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were roughly 84 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.
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 Panoramedia.
The materials engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Materials Engineering rankings. For our Best Overall Materials Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
