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2024 Best Engineering Master's Degree Schools

268 Colleges in the United States
48,049 Master's Degrees
$85,090 Avg Early-Career Salary
Engineering is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #6 most popular master's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 268 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Engineering Master's Degree Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 48,049 master's degrees in engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Engineering School for Your Master's Degree

Best Engineering Master's Degree Schools The engineering master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality engineering program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a master's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a college's overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking which itself looks at a combination of different 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 master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master'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 complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for engineering students working on their master's degree.

More Ways to Rank Engineering Schools

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

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

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Engineering in the United States

Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for engineering students seeking a a master's degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

25 Top Schools for a Master's in Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
540 Annual Graduates

Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a great option for students interested in a master's degree in engineering. MIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge.More information about a master’s in engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
617 Annual Graduates

Stanford University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a master's degree in engineering. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Stanford University

3
Harvard crest
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
214 Annual Graduates

Harvard University is a good decision for students pursuing a master's degree in engineering. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Harvard University

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,058 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in engineering has to look into Columbia University in the City of New York. Columbia is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of New York.More information about a master’s in engineering from Columbia University in the City of New York

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
378 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Northwestern University

6
SCU crest
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
199 Annual Graduates

SCU is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Santa Clara.More information about a master’s in engineering from Santa Clara University

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,178 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of Southern California

8
Dartmouth crest
Dartmouth College
Hanover, NH
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
156 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Dartmouth College

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
996 Annual Graduates

Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh.More information about a master’s in engineering from Carnegie Mellon University

10
Duke crest
Duke University
Durham, NC
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
260 Annual Graduates

Duke is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Durham.More information about a master’s in engineering from Duke University

11
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
908 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Baltimore, Johns Hopkins is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Johns Hopkins University

12
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
309 Annual Graduates

UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of Pennsylvania

13
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
318 Annual Graduates

WUSTL is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.More information about a master’s in engineering from Washington University in St Louis

14
Rice crest
Rice University
Houston, TX
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
94 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Rice University

15
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
645 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of California - Berkeley

16
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
494 Annual Graduates

UCLA is a very large public university located in the city of Los Angeles.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

17
Brown crest
Brown University
Providence, RI
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
72 Annual Graduates

Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Providence.More information about a master’s in engineering from Brown University

18
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
999 Annual Graduates

Georgia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Atlanta.More information about a master’s in engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

19
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,221 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

20
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
353 Annual Graduates

UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the large city of Madison.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of Wisconsin - Madison

21
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
712 Annual Graduates

Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Cornell University

22
Princeton crest
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
88 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Princeton University

23
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
796 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from Purdue University - Main Campus

24
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
618 Annual Graduates

UW Seattle is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Seattle.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of Washington - Seattle Campus

25
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
816 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of La Jolla, UCSD is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in engineering from University of California - San Diego

Rest of the Top Best Engineering Master's Degree Schools

26
27
28
29
Vanderbilt crest
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN
30
31
32

33

34
35
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
36
Tufts crest
Tufts University
Medford, MA
37
Villanova crest
Villanova University
Villanova, PA
38
39
40

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Engineering Master's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
41 North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC
42 Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ
43 University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA
44 University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN
45 San Jose State University San Jose, CA
46 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA
47 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
48 Iowa State University Ames, IA
49 Clemson University Clemson, SC
50 Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN
51 Auburn University Auburn, AL
52 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
53 New York University New York, NY

Engineering by Region

View the Best Engineering Master's Degree Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

View All Rankings >

Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 8,658
Mechanical Engineering 7,218
Computer Engineering 5,020
Civil Engineering 4,884
Biomedical Engineering 3,089
General Engineering 2,969
Industrial Engineering 2,483
Systems Engineering 2,186
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 1,880
Chemical Engineering 1,558

Related Major Annual Graduates
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 19,635
Mathematics & Statistics 12,658
Physical Sciences 6,760
Engineering Technologies 6,549
Architecture & Related Services 6,350
Natural Resources & Conservation 4,521
Agriculture & Agriculture Operations 2,949
Military Technologies & Applied Sciences 1,035
Science Technologies / Technicians 66

Notes and References

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