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2024 Best Materials Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

14 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
740 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$69,386 Avg Early-Career Salary
Materials Engineering is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #154 most popular degree program in the country. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 14 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for materials engineering students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 740 degrees in materials engineering to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Materials Engineering School

Best Materials Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of materials engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Materials Engineering School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Materials Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Materials Engineering
Master's Degrees in Materials Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Materials Engineering

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 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.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Materials 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 materials engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools in Materials Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IL
82 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded

Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in materials 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 2,217 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were about 82 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
97 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$69,257 Median Starting Salary

Purdue University - Main Campus is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in materials engineering. Purdue is a fairly large public university located in the small city of West Lafayette. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.

There were about 97 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the materials engineering program make about $69,257 for their early career.

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

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
119 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
19.3% Growth in Graduates

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in materials engineering. U-M is a fairly large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were approximately 119 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Those materials engineering students who get their degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor make $4,468 more than the standard materials engineering student.

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

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
109 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$64,436 Median Starting Salary

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in materials engineering. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 109 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. After graduation, materials engineering degree recipients typically make around $64,436 at the beginning of their careers.

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

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
60 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$64,892 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were roughly 60 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. After graduating, materials engineering degree recipients typically make an average of $64,892 in their early careers.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$86,960 Median Starting Salary

UDayton is a large private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Dayton. This university ranks 6th out of 96 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.

There were about 16 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UDayton in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the materials engineering degree program at University of Dayton earn $17,574 more than the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of Dayton

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
112 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$67,817 Median Starting Salary

Ohio State is a very large public university located in the city of Columbus. A Best Colleges rank of #69 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Ohio State is a great university overall.

There were about 112 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, materials engineering degree recipients generally earn an average of $67,817 in the first five years of their career.

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In OH

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

There were approximately 20 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Case Western in the most recent data year.

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

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
36 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$67,484 Median Starting Salary

Located in the town of Houghton, Michigan Tech is a public university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were roughly 36 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan Tech in the most recent data year. After graduating, materials engineering degree recipients generally make an average of $67,484 in their early careers.

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

10
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
$68,609 Median Starting Salary
$24,692 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of East Lansing, Michigan State is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Michigan.

There were about 28 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Michigan State in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the materials engineering program report average early career income of $68,609.

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

Best Materials Engineering Colleges by State

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 322 183
Ohio 314 179
Illinois 304 203
Indiana 294 98
Wisconsin 273 77

View All Rankings >

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

Materials Engineering Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Materials Engineering 740

View All Materials Engineering Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 7,978
Electrical Engineering 4,524
Computer Engineering 3,259
Civil Engineering 2,925
Chemical Engineering 2,284
Biomedical Engineering 1,932
Industrial Engineering 1,927
General Engineering 1,712
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,238
Other Engineering 536

View All Materials Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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