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2025 Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

16 Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
2,133 Doctor's Degrees
$104,443 Avg Early-Career Salary
a doctor's degree in engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #4 out of 36 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 16 schools in the Great Lakes Region to determine which ones were the best for engineering students pursuing a doctor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,133 doctor's degrees in engineering during the 2021-2022 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Engineering School for Your Doctor's Degree

Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region Your choice of engineering for getting your doctor's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality 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 account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges for a Doctor's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

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 doctor's degree from the school. After all, your doctor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

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 schools for engineering students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Engineering Schools

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Engineering in the Great Lakes Region

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a doctor's degree in engineering.

10 Top Great Lakes Region Schools for a Doctorate in Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
129 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in engineering from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
259 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in engineering. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign.More information about a doctorate in engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
102 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a doctor's degree in engineering has to check out University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Notre Dame.More information about a doctorate in engineering from University of Notre Dame

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
361 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Purdue University - Main Campus if you want to pursue a doctor's degree in engineering. Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in engineering from Purdue University - Main Campus

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
290 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
56 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Cleveland, Case Western is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in engineering from Case Western Reserve University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
43 Annual Graduates

Michigan Tech is a medium-sized public university located in the town of Houghton.More information about a doctorate in engineering from Michigan Technological University

8
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
72 Annual Graduates

Michigan State is a fairly large public university located in the city of East Lansing.More information about a doctorate in engineering from Michigan State University

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
36 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Dayton, UDayton is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a doctorate in engineering from University of Dayton

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
190 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a doctorate in engineering from Ohio State University - Main Campus

Best Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best engineering schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Indiana 29 437
Michigan 29 437
Ohio 29 449
Illinois 29 450
Wisconsin 27 168

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Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 393
Mechanical Engineering 377
Chemical Engineering 222
Civil Engineering 170
Biomedical Engineering 160
Materials Engineering 146
Computer Engineering 114
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 97
Industrial Engineering 94
General Engineering 59

Majors Similar to Engineering

Related Major Annual Graduates
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 1,235
Physical Sciences 1,119
Agriculture & Agriculture Operations 706
Mathematics & Statistics 380
Natural Resources & Conservation 93
Engineering Technologies 45
Architecture & Related Services 7

Notes and References

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