2024 Best Systems Engineering Schools
63
Colleges in the United States
3,904
Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
$89,736
Avg Early-Career Salary
Systems Engineering isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #160 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.
College Factual looked at 63 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Systems Engineering Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,904 degrees in systems engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Systems Engineering School

Your choice of systems engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for systems engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Systems Engineering Rankings by Degree Level
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 Systems Engineering Schools 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 Systems Engineering in the United States
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the systems engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.
10 Top Schools in Systems Engineering
It's difficult to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a degree in systems engineering. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.
There were approximately 208 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent year we have data available. Those systems engineering students who get their degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology make $43,949 more than the standard systems engineering grad.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyWashington University in St Louis is a great option for students pursuing a degree in systems 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 schools nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.
There were approximately 54 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the systems engineering program earn around $73,035 for their early career.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from Washington University in St LouisJohns Hopkins University is a wonderful choice for students pursuing a degree in systems engineering. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore. A Best Colleges rank of #23 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.
There were approximately 206 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the systems engineering degree program at Johns Hopkins University make $24,419 above the average graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins UniversityUniversity of Virginia - Main Campus is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in systems engineering. University of Virginia is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of Charlottesville. A Best Colleges rank of #33 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.
There were approximately 167 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent data year. Systems Engineering degree recipients from University of Virginia - Main Campus earn a boost of approximately $4,127 over the typical earnings of systems engineering graduates.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from University of Virginia - Main CampusUSC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #11 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were about 28 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Systems Engineering degree recipients from University of Southern California earn a boost of around $35,978 over the typical income of systems engineering graduates.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from University of Southern CaliforniaLocated in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 77 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.
There were approximately 285 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the systems engineering program make an average of $82,686 in their early career salary.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from University of FloridaMaster's Degree
Highest Degree Type
2nd
Most Popular In PA
81
Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were approximately 81 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from University of PennsylvaniaLocated in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were about 77 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the systems engineering program state that they receive average early career wages of $61,753.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignGWU is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Washington. This university ranks 2nd out of 8 schools for overall quality in the state of District of Columbia.
There were roughly 122 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent data year. Systems Engineering degree recipients from George Washington University receive an earnings boost of approximately $22,301 over the average income of systems engineering majors.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from George Washington UniversityCornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Ithaca. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were about 93 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Systems Engineering degree recipients from Cornell University get an earnings boost of approximately $6,111 above the typical income of systems engineering graduates.
More information about a degree in systems engineering from Cornell University