2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region
63Colleges in the Southeast Region
8,869ME Degrees Awarded
$76,023Avg Early-Career Salary
Mechanical Engineering is of the hottest degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #21 most popular major in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 63 schools in the Southeast Region to determine which ones were the best for mechanical engineering students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 8,869 degrees in mechanical engineering to qualified students.
The me program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Mechanical Engineering rankings. For our Best Overall Mechanical Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The me school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region.
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 Mechanical Engineering in the Southeast Region
The schools below may not offer all types of me degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus is a good decision for students interested in a degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.
There were about 739 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus get $6,235 more than the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Duke University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were about 120 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent year we have data available. Those mechanical engineering students who get their degree from Duke University make $13,915 more than the standard me grad.
It is hard to beat Virginia Tech if you wish to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #58 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Virginia Tech is a great school overall.
There were roughly 379 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Virginia Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the mechanical engineering program at Virginia Tech get $2,725 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
It's hard to beat University of Florida if you wish to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #56 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UF is a great university overall.
There were approximately 487 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF 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 wages of $77,425.
Auburn is a very large public university located in the city of Auburn. A Best Colleges rank of #169 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Auburn is a great university overall.
There were approximately 268 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Auburn in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn about $74,005 in their early career salary.
Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Vanderbilt is a great university overall.
There were about 71 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Vanderbilt in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program report average early career wages of $78,009.
Clemson is a very large public university located in the suburb of Clemson. A Best Colleges rank of #149 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Clemson is a great university overall.
There were about 304 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Clemson in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn an average of $73,220 in their early career salary.
NC State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Raleigh. A Best Colleges rank of #122 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NC State is a great university overall.
There were about 352 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at NC State in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the me program make around $73,866 in the first couple years of working.
UA is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Tuscaloosa. This university ranks 3rd out of 42 schools for overall quality in the state of Alabama.
There were about 346 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UA in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn an average of $75,238 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the medium-sized city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Tennessee.
There were roughly 228 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UT Knoxville in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, me degree recipients generally make an average of $65,756 in their early careers.
UofSC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Columbia. A Best Colleges rank of #99 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UofSC is a great university overall.
There were about 209 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UofSC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program report average early career earnings of $72,370.
UCF is a very large public university located in the large suburb of Orlando. This university ranks 10th out of 70 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were about 534 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCF in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn around $66,298 in their early career salary.
Here are some additional great schools for Mechanical Engineering students in the Southeast Region that almost earned our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region award.
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).
The me program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Mechanical Engineering rankings. For our Best Overall Mechanical Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.
