2023 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Systems Engineering
32
Ranked Colleges
152
Degrees Awarded
$160,692
Avg Salary
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Systems Engineering is the 160th most popular major in the country with 3,802 degrees awarded in 2021-2022. In , systems engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in , earned an average of $90,096 and had an average of $27,162 in loans still to pay off.
At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 152 systems engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,735 and $124,256 respectively.
For this year’s “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major” ranking, we looked at 32 colleges that offer a degree in systems engineering. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in systems engineering.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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. 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.
Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major
The colleges and universities below are the best for doctor’s degree systems engineering students.
Top 32 Most Focused Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Systems Engineering
Out of the 32 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major that were part of this year’s ranking, California Institute of Technology landed the #1 spot on the list. California Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pasadena, California. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 doctorate’s degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 99%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Systems Engineering at California Institute of Technology
Out of the 32 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Air Force Institute of Technology - Graduate School of Engineering & Management landed the #2 spot on the list. Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to 5 students in 2021-2022.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Full AFIT Graduate School of Engineering & Management Systems Engineering Report
Out of the 32 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Stevens Institute of Technology landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Hoboken, New Jersey, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 8 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s systems engineering students in 2021-2022.
With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Louisiana at Lafayette. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. UL Lafayette is a fairly large public school situated in Lafayette, Louisiana. It awarded 5 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at UL Lafayette
Out of the 32 schools in the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Missouri University of Science and Technology landed the #5 spot on the list. Missouri University of Science and Technology is located in Rolla, Missouri and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 3 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology
University of Virginia - Main Campus came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. University of Virginia is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 13 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to qualified students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at University of Virginia
George Washington University landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Located in Washington, District of Columbia, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 18 degrees to qualified doctorate’s systems engineering students in 2021-2022.
With a freshman retention rate of 91%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full GWU Systems Engineering Report
University of South Alabama did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #8. USA is a fairly large public school situated in Mobile, Alabama. It awarded 2 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at University of South Alabama
Case Western Reserve University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Cleveland, Ohio is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to 2 students in 2021-2022.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Full Case Western Reserve University Systems Engineering Report
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is a medium-sized school located in Troy, New York that handed out 3 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Colorado State University - Fort Collins landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Colorado State is a large public school situated in Fort Collins, Colorado. It awarded 20 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Colorado State Systems Engineering Report
Massachusetts Institute of Technology ranked #12 on this year’s Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. This fairly large school is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and it awarded 8 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 3 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. With a freshman retention rate of 99%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about Systems Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
With a ranking of #13, Boston University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. Boston University is a large school located in Boston, Massachusetts that handed out 5 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Boston University
University of California - San Diego came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. University of California - San Diego is a large school located in La Jolla, California that handed out 5 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full UCSD Systems Engineering Report
With a ranking of #15, Florida Institute of Technology did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. Florida Institute of Technology is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Melbourne, Florida. It awarded 3 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Florida Institute of Technology
Naval Postgraduate School did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #16. Naval Postgraduate School is located in Monterey, California and, has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 1 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to qualified students.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Naval Postgraduate School
With a ranking of #17, Texas Tech University did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. Lubbock, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to 3 students in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full Texas Tech Systems Engineering Report
University of Arizona landed the #18 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. University of Arizona is a large school located in Tucson, Arizona that handed out 8 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at University of Arizona
Arizona State University - Tempe came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. ASU - Tempe is located in Tempe, Arizona and, has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 11 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Arizona State University - Tempe
George Mason University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. GMU is a large public school situated in Fairfax, Virginia. It awarded 4 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at George Mason University
With a ranking of #21, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 3 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at UIUC
With a ranking of #22, University of Florida did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. UF is a large public school situated in Gainesville, Florida. It awarded 8 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full University of Florida Systems Engineering Report
With a ranking of #23, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. Washington University in St Louis is a fairly large school located in Saint Louis, Missouri that handed out 1 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about Systems Engineering at WUSTL
University of New Hampshire - Main Campus came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. UNH is a fairly large public school situated in Durham, New Hampshire. It awarded 0 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full UNH Systems Engineering Report
Southern Methodist University landed the #24 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Southern Methodist University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Dallas, Texas. It awarded 1 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at Southern Methodist University
With a ranking of #24, Worcester Polytechnic Institute did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. WPI is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Worcester, Massachusetts. It awarded 1 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full WPI Systems Engineering Report
The University of Tennessee - Chattanooga came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Chattanooga, Tennessee is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s systems engineering degrees to 0 students in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at UT Chattanooga
Oakland University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #24. Oakland University is a public institution located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Oakland
Colorado School of Mines came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Mines is a public institution located in Golden, Colorado. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Colorado School of Mines
University of California - Santa Cruz ranked #24 on this year’s Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major list. University of California - Santa Cruz is a public institution located in Santa Cruz, California. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Systems Engineering at University of California - Santa Cruz
University of Denver landed the #24 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. This fairly large school is located in Denver, Colorado, and it awarded 51 doctorate’s systems engineering degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Systems Engineering at University of Denver
Cornell University landed the #24 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Doctorate Highly Focused on Systems Engineering Major ranking. Cornell University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Ithaca, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Read full report on Systems Engineering at Cornell University
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Notes and References
References
- 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 our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
Credits
- Credit for the banner image above goes to luis gomes.
