Petroleum Engineering is about average in terms of popularity for bachelor's degrees programs. That is, it ranks #174 out of the 363 majors across the country that we analyze each year. As such, the degree program isn't offered at every college in the United States, but there are schools that do have a program in the field that are top-notch when it comes to quality.
College Factual looked at 4 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 176 bachelor's degrees in petroleum engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Choosing a Great Petroleum Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree
The petroleum engineering bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality petroleum engineering program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
Quality Overall Is Important
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.
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 bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on petroleum engineering students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of petroleum engineering students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
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 easy is it for petroleum engineering to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized petroleum engineering related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for petroleum engineering students working on their bachelor's degree.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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 Bachelor’s Students to Study Petroleum Engineering in the Southeast Region
The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering.
Top Southeast Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Petroleum Engineering
Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering needs to check out Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College. Located in the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Petroleum Engineering bachelor's degree recipients from Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College receive an earnings boost of about $2,365 over the average earnings of petroleum engineering graduates.
West Virginia University is a good choice for students interested in a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. Located in the city of Morgantown, WVU is a public university with a very large student population.
Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the petroleum engineering program make about $74,468 in the first couple years of working.
Any student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering needs to look into University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Located in the midsize city of Lafayette, UL Lafayette is a public university with a fairly large student population.
Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the petroleum engineering program report average early career income of $69,557.
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.
college factual
The petroleum engineering bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality petroleum engineering program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:
