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2024 Best Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region

25 Colleges in the Plains States Region
11,973 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$66,381 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in engineering, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #7 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

College Factual reviewed 25 schools in the Plains States Region to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of engineering. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 11,973 degrees in engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Engineering School

Best Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region Your choice of engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Engineering School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Engineering
Bachelor's Degrees in Engineering
Master's Degrees in Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Engineering

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Engineering Schools in the Plains States Region list to help you make the college decision. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Engineering in the Plains States Region

The schools below may not offer all types of engineering degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Plains States Region Schools in Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
658 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$76,341 Median Starting Salary

Washington University in St Louis is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in engineering. Located in the large suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #17 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.

There were approximately 658 engineering students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent data year. Those engineering students who get their degree from Washington University in St Louis make $9,960 more than the average engineering grad.

More information about a degree in engineering from Washington University in St Louis

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,913 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$72,389 Median Starting Salary

Iowa State University is a great choice for students interested in a degree in engineering. Located in the small city of Ames, Iowa State is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #75 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa State is a great university overall.

There were about 1913 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Iowa State in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the engineering major at Iowa State University make $6,008 more than the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in engineering from Iowa State University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,312 Engineering Degrees Awarded
2.7% Growth in Graduates

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a good choice for students interested in a degree in engineering. Located in the city of Minneapolis, UMN Twin Cities is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #51 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UMN Twin Cities is a great university overall.

There were approximately 1312 engineering students who graduated with this degree at UMN Twin Cities in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the engineering degree program at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities make $2,557 above the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in engineering from University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,478 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$66,503 Median Starting Salary

Missouri University of Science and Technology is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in engineering. Missouri University of Science and Technology is a moderately-sized public university located in the town of Rolla. A Best Colleges rank of #97 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Missouri University of Science and Technology is a great university overall.

There were about 1478 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Missouri University of Science and Technology in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, engineering degree recipients typically earn an average of $66,503 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
511 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$66,938 Median Starting Salary

Mizzou is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of Columbia. A Best Colleges rank of #124 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Mizzou is a great university overall.

There were roughly 511 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Mizzou in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, engineering degree recipients usually earn around $66,938 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in engineering from University of Missouri - Columbia

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
670 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$68,528 Median Starting Salary

UNL is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Lincoln. A Best Colleges rank of #138 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UNL is a great university overall.

There were roughly 670 engineering students who graduated with this degree at UNL in the most recent year we have data available. Engineering degree recipients from University of Nebraska - Lincoln get an earnings boost of about $2,147 over the average income of engineering graduates.

More information about a degree in engineering from University of Nebraska - Lincoln

7
Iowa crest
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
577 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$63,571 Median Starting Salary

Iowa is a very large public university located in the small city of Iowa City. A Best Colleges rank of #84 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Iowa is a great university overall.

There were about 577 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Iowa in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, engineering degree recipients usually earn an average of $63,571 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in engineering from University of Iowa

8
KU crest
University of Kansas
Lawrence, KS
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
498 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$65,113 Median Starting Salary

KU is a fairly large public university located in the city of Lawrence. A Best Colleges rank of #141 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means KU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 498.00000000000006 engineering students who graduated with this degree at KU in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the engineering program state that they receive average early career earnings of $65,113.

More information about a degree in engineering from University of Kansas

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
450 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$63,136 Median Starting Salary

North Dakota State University is a large public university located in the medium-sized city of Fargo. A Best Colleges rank of #242 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means North Dakota State University is a great university overall.

There were approximately 450.00000000000006 engineering students who graduated with this degree at North Dakota State University in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the engineering program state that they receive average early career wages of $63,136.

More information about a degree in engineering from North Dakota State University - Main Campus

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
377 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$61,253 Median Starting Salary

SD Mines is a small public school located in the small city of Rapid City.

There were approximately 377 engineering students who graduated with this degree at SD Mines in the most recent data year. After graduating, engineering degree recipients usually make about $61,253 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in engineering from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Best Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best engineering colleges for a specific state in the Plains States Region .

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Kansas 38 1,559
Minnesota 38 2,318
Iowa 38 2,595
South Dakota 38 546
Missouri 38 3,001
Nebraska 36 698
North Dakota 35 785

View All Rankings >

Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 2,950
Electrical Engineering 1,305
Civil Engineering 1,301
Computer Engineering 1,025
Chemical Engineering 884
Industrial Engineering 707
Biomedical Engineering 651
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 591
General Engineering 519
Agricultural Engineering 205

View All Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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