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2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania

17 Colleges in Pennsylvania
2,147 ME Degrees Awarded
$76,023 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #21 in popularity, mechanical engineering is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 17 schools in Pennsylvania to determine which ones were the best for mechanical engineering students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,147 degrees in mechanical engineering annually.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering School

Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania Your choice of mechanical engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for mechanical engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each 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.

Mechanical Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in ME
Bachelor's Degrees in ME
Master's Degrees in ME
Doctor's Degrees in ME

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 Schools in Pennsylvania list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Mechanical Engineering in Pennsylvania

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 me degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Pennsylvania Schools in ME

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
262 ME Degrees Awarded
$84,413 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering has to take a look at Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.

There were approximately 262 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at Carnegie Mellon University make $8,390 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University

2
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
112 ME Degrees Awarded
$66,876 Median Starting Salary

University of Pennsylvania is a great option for students interested in a degree in mechanical engineering. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 112 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the me program make about $66,876 for their early career.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Pennsylvania

3
Villanova crest
Villanova University
Villanova, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
105 ME Degrees Awarded
15.2% Growth in Graduates

It's difficult to beat Villanova University if you wish to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Villanova is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Villanova. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Villanova is a great university overall.

There were about 105 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Villanova in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the mechanical engineering program at Villanova University make $8,186 more than the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University

4
Lehigh crest
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
117 ME Degrees Awarded
$79,418 Median Starting Salary

Lehigh University is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in mechanical engineering. Lehigh is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Bethlehem. A Best Colleges rank of #51 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Lehigh is a great university overall.

There were roughly 117 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Lehigh in the most recent year we have data available. Those mechanical engineering students who get their degree from Lehigh University make $3,396 more than the standard me student.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
206 ME Degrees Awarded
$74,319 Median Starting Salary

Pitt is a very large public university located in the city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #85 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Pitt is a great university overall.

There were about 206 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program report average early career wages of $74,319.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

6
Drexel crest
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
226 ME Degrees Awarded
11.5% Growth in Graduates

Drexel is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #115 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Drexel is a great university overall.

There were about 226 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Drexel in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program state that they receive average early career income of $76,848.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University

7
Bucknell crest
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
$79,391 Median Starting Salary

Bucknell is a small private not-for-profit university located in the distant town of Lewisburg. A Best Colleges rank of #158 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Bucknell is a great university overall.

There were roughly 27 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Bucknell in the most recent data year. Those mechanical engineering students who get their degree from Bucknell University make $3,368 more than the standard me student.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Bucknell University

8
Temple crest
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
101 ME Degrees Awarded
$66,161 Median Starting Salary

Temple is a fairly large public university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #97 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Temple is a great university overall.

There were roughly 101 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent data year. After graduating, me degree recipients generally earn an average of $66,161 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Temple University

9
Lafayette crest
Lafayette College
Easton, PA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
63 ME Degrees Awarded
4.8% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 14th out of 103 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were approximately 63 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Lafayette in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the me program earn about $72,481 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Lafayette College

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
52 ME Degrees Awarded
11.5% Growth in Graduates

Pitt Johnstown is a small public university located in the small suburb of Johnstown. This university ranks 67th out of 103 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were approximately 52 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Pitt Johnstown in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program state that they receive average early career income of $71,406.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
New York 333 2,830
Maryland 279 796
New Jersey 273 925
District of Columbia 188 176
Delaware 175 135

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 2,147

View All ME Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to ME

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 1,453
Civil Engineering 936
Biomedical Engineering 895
Chemical Engineering 808
Computer Engineering 778
General Engineering 446
Industrial Engineering 408
Other Engineering 301
Robotics Engineering 209
Materials Engineering 208

View All ME Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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