Mechanical Engineering is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #17 most popular major in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
In 2023, College Factual analyzed 47 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 5,603 bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree
Your choice of mechanical engineering for getting your bachelor'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
A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to mechanical engineering students as compared to other majors.
Major Demand - How many other mechanical engineering students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt mechanical engineering students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
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 bachelor's degree.
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 Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Far Western US Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
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.
Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Mechanical Engineering in the Far Western US Region
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for mechanical engineering students seeking a a bachelor's degree.
10 Top Far Western US Region Schools for a Bachelor's in ME
Stanford University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Stanford is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford.
Those mechanical engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from Stanford University receive $2,459 more than the standard ME grad.
It's hard to beat University of California - Berkeley if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
Those mechanical engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from University of California - Berkeley earn $9,288 more than the average ME graduate.
University of Southern California is a wonderful option for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. USC is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles.
Mechanical Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of Southern California receive an earnings boost of about $10,145 above the typical income of mechanical engineering graduates.
It's difficult to beat University of California - Los Angeles if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Mechanical Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of California - Los Angeles get an earnings boost of around $4,309 above the average income of mechanical engineering graduates.
Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public university with a very large student population.
Mechanical Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo get an earnings boost of about $10,258 above the typical income of mechanical engineering majors.
Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population.
Mechanical Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus receive an earnings boost of approximately $2,088 over the average earnings of mechanical engineering majors.
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).