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2025 Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region

9 Colleges in the Southwest Region
281 Bachelor's Degrees
$62,153 Avg Early-Career Salary
When it comes to popularity, a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering sits in the middle of the road, ranking #174 out of 363 majors in the country. So, it might take a little more work to find colleges and universities that offer the degree program.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 281 bachelor's degrees in petroleum engineering during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Petroleum Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in the Southwest Region Your choice of petroleum 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

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host 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 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

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

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Petroleum Engineering Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Southwest Region ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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 Petroleum Engineering in the Southwest Region

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for petroleum engineering students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

Top Southwest Region Schools for a Bachelor's in Petroleum Engineering

1
68 Annual Graduates
$69,603 Median Starting Salary
$36,080 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Texas A&M University - College Station if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized city of College Station.

Bachelor's recipients from the petroleum engineering degree program at Texas A&M University - College Station make $7,450 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University - College Station

2
67 Annual Graduates
$86,761 Median Starting Salary
$30,689 Median Student Debt

The University of Texas at Austin is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. UT Austin is a very large public university located in the large city of Austin.

Those petroleum engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from The University of Texas at Austin receive $24,608 more than the standard petroleum engineering graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas at Austin

3

It is difficult to beat Texas Tech University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. Located in the city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Those petroleum engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from Texas Tech University make $18,307 more than the average petroleum engineering graduate.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from Texas Tech University

4

University of Oklahoma Norman Campus is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering. University of Oklahoma is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Norman.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the petroleum engineering program make around $61,223 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

5

UH is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Houston.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the petroleum engineering program earn an average of $52,295 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from University of Houston

6
20 Annual Graduates
$40,669 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Tulsa, University of Tulsa is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from University of Tulsa

7

New Mexico Tech is a small public school located in the town of Socorro.

Soon after graduating, petroleum engineering bachelor's recipients generally make about $42,325 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

8

UT Permian Basin is a moderately-sized public university located in the midsize city of Odessa.

After graduation, petroleum engineering bachelor's recipients generally make an average of $61,299 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from The University of Texas of the Permian Basin

9

Texas A&M Kingsville is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Kingsville.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the petroleum engineering program make an average of $43,257 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in petroleum engineering from Texas A&M University - Kingsville

Best Petroleum Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best petroleum engineering schools for a specific state in the Southwest Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Texas 245 274
Oklahoma 190 75
New Mexico 133 15

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One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Petroleum Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Petroleum Engineering Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Petroleum Engineering 281

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 4,054
Electrical Engineering 2,288
Civil Engineering 1,533
Computer Engineering 1,146
Chemical Engineering 1,145
Biomedical Engineering 909
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 850
Industrial Engineering 671
General Engineering 340
Environmental Engineering 211

Notes and References

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