College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools

158 Colleges in the United States
7,402 Master's Degrees
$93,588 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a master's degree in mechanical engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #29 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual looked at 158 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 7,402 master's degrees in mechanical engineering during the <nil> academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

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

Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools 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. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

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

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

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

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

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More ME Rankings Other Ranking Categories

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools list to help you make the college decision.

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

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for mechanical engineering students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in ME

1

It is difficult to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you want to pursue a master's degree in mechanical engineering. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering major at Massachusetts Institute of Technology make $62,301 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA

It is difficult to beat Stanford University if you want to pursue a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at Stanford University make $27,820 more than the average graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Stanford University

3

Johns Hopkins University is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the large city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at Johns Hopkins University get $21,000 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Johns Hopkins University

4

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in mechanical engineering has to take a look at Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering major at Columbia University in the City of New York make $10,915 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in the City of New York

5

Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Mechanical Engineering master's degree recipients from University of Southern California earn a boost of around $13,147 over the typical income of mechanical engineering graduates.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Southern California

6
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
30 Annual Graduates

Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Durham.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Duke University

7
233 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of California - Berkeley

8

Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Mechanical Engineering master's degree recipients from Cornell University get an earnings boost of around $5,999 over the typical income of mechanical engineering graduates.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Cornell University

9

Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a very large student population.

Mechanical Engineering master's degree recipients from Purdue University - Main Campus get an earnings boost of approximately $12,176 above the average income of mechanical engineering graduates.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Purdue University - Main Campus

10

Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

Students who graduate with their master's from the me program report average early career wages of $93,617.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University

11

Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.

Soon after graduation, me master's recipients generally make about $93,716 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

12

Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Atlanta.

Mechanical Engineering master's degree recipients from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn a boost of about $4,411 over the typical earnings of mechanical engineering majors.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

13

Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the me program report average early career income of $83,978.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University

14

UT Austin is a very large public university located in the large city of Austin.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at The University of Texas at Austin earn $5,988 above the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin

15

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering major at University of California - Los Angeles make $15,304 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

16
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA

SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Santa Clara.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering program at Santa Clara University make $30,470 more than the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Santa Clara University

17

UW - Madison is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Madison.

Soon after graduation, me master's recipients typically earn an average of $88,820 in their early careers.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Wisconsin - Madison

18

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at University of California - San Diego get $19,408 more than the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of California - San Diego

19
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA

UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.

Students who graduate with their master's from the me program state that they receive average early career wages of $94,109.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Pennsylvania

20

WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.

Master's students who receive their degree from the me program make about $87,081 in the first couple years of their career.

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

21

Located in the large city of Boston, Northeastern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

Students who graduate with their master's from the me program report average early career income of $95,265.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Northeastern University

22

UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.

Master's recipients from the mechanical engineering major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $11,987 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

23
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

UF is a fairly large public university located in the city of Gainesville.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn around $85,272 in the first couple years of working.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Florida

24
12 Annual Graduates

UCONN is a fairly large public university located in the fringe town of Storrs.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Connecticut

25
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
34 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Medford, Tufts is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Tufts University

Rest of the Top Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools

26
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
27
Villanova crest
Villanova University
Villanova, PA
28
29
30
31

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 Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
32 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN
33 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
34 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
35 Boston University Boston, MA
36 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
37 New York University New York, NY
38 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
39 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
40 University of Iowa Iowa City, IA
41 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
42 University of Washington - Seattle Campus Seattle, WA
43 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
44 Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI
45 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
46 George Washington University Washington, DC
47 Auburn University Auburn, AL
48 The University of Tennessee - Knoxville Knoxville, TN
49 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY
50 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
51 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN
52 University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA

Mechanical Engineering by Region

View the Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

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

ME Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Mechanical Engineering 7,402

Majors Similar to ME

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 9,192
Computer Engineering 5,898
Civil Engineering 4,960
General Engineering 3,783
Biomedical Engineering 3,671
Industrial Engineering 2,737
Systems Engineering 2,407
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 2,402
Other Engineering 1,708
Chemical Engineering 1,687

Notes and References

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options