2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region

Ranked #29 in popularity, mechanical engineering is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 11 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 276 master's degrees in mechanical engineering to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of mechanical engineering for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we consider a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on mechanical engineering students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of mechanical engineering students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for mechanical engineering to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized mechanical engineering related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for mechanical engineering students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Plains States Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Mechanical Engineering in the Plains States Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools for a Master's in ME

1

Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO

75 Annual Graduates

$87,081 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in mechanical engineering has to look into Washington University in St Louis. WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.

Students who graduate with their master's from the me program state that they receive average early career income of $87,081.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Washington University in St Louis

2

University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA

14 Annual Graduates

University of Iowa is a good choice for individuals interested in a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the small city of Iowa City, Iowa is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Iowa

3

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN

48 Annual Graduates

$90,193 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in mechanical engineering has to look into University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. UMN Twin Cities is a very large public university located in the large city of Minneapolis.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn around $90,193 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

4

Missouri University of Science and Technology
Rolla, MO

15 Annual Graduates

$103,336 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in mechanical engineering needs to look into Missouri University of Science and Technology. Located in the remote town of Rolla, Missouri University of Science and Technology is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.

Mechanical Engineering master's degree recipients from Missouri University of Science and Technology receive an earnings boost of about $7,196 above the average earnings of mechanical engineering graduates.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology

5

North Dakota State University - Main Campus
Fargo, ND

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Fargo, North Dakota State University is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from North Dakota State University - Main Campus

6

University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Lincoln, NE

12 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Lincoln, UNL is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Nebraska - Lincoln

7

University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND

12 Annual Graduates

UND is a large public university located in the city of Grand Forks.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of North Dakota

8

University of St Thomas Minnesota
Saint Paul, MN

14 Annual Graduates

$101,540 Median Starting Salary

UST MN is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Saint Paul.

Those mechanical engineering students who get their master's degree from University of St Thomas Minnesota receive $5,400 more than the average me student.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of St Thomas Minnesota

9

South Dakota State University
Brookings, SD

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Brookings, South Dakota State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from South Dakota State University

10

Wichita State University
Wichita, KS

11 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Wichita, WSU is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Wichita State University

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best mechanical engineering schools for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Missouri	193	105
Minnesota	174	80
Iowa	154	8
Kansas	149	17
Nebraska	123	14
North Dakota	115	14
South Dakota	89	11

View All Rankings >

Mechanical Engineering Related Rankings by Major

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

ME Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
General Mechanical Engineering	276

Most Popular Majors Related to ME

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering	281
Civil Engineering	211
Biomedical Engineering	209
Industrial Engineering	137
Computer Engineering	109
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	87
General Engineering	85
Chemical Engineering	85
Geoscience Engineering	67
Electrical and Computer Engineering.	66

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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Michel Villeneuve. More about our data sources and methodologies.