2023 Best Civil Engineering Schools
Finding the Best Civil Engineering School for You
Civil Engineering is the #50 most popular major in the country with 21,388 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Civil Engineering Schools ranking. This report analyzed 252 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Civil Engineering Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for civil eng majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Top Schools in Civil Engineering
Our analysis found Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be the best school for civil engineering students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Out of the 252 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Princeton University is a great place for civil engineering students. Located in the city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Stanford University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Rice University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Schools list. Rice is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Houston.
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Duke University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Schools ranking. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.
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Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best civil engineering programs. Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Terre Haute.
Civil Eng majors at Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology take out an average of $24,833 in student loans while working on their egree.
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With a ranking of #8, University of Notre Dame did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.
While working on their degree, civil eng majors at Notre Dame accumulate an average of around $20,500 in student debt.
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University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #9 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Schools list. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public college with a fairly large student population.
On average, civil eng graduates from University of Virginia take out $19,838 in student loans while working on their degree.
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California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo ranked #10 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Schools list. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a very large public school located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo.
After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo carry an average student debtload of $20,368. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $315.
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Lafayette College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Schools list. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from Lafayette carry an average student debtload of $19,500.
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Vanderbilt University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best civil engineering programs. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.
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Bucknell University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Schools ranking. Located in the distant town of Lewisburg, Bucknell is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
While working on their degree, civil eng majors at Bucknell accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.
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With a ranking of #14, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students. Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Ithaca.
The average amount in student loans that civil eng majors at Cornell take out is $13,500.
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University of Southern California landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best civil engineering programs. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from USC carry an average student debtload of $11,362.
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Lehigh University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #16 on the list. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.
While working on their degree, civil eng majors at Lehigh accumulate an average of around $25,552 in student debt.
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Villanova University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #17 on the list. Villanova is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.
The average amount in student loans that civil eng majors at Villanova take out is $27,000.
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With a ranking of #18, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students. UT Austin is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.
After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from UT Austin carry an average student debtload of $21,172. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $376, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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University of California - Berkeley ranked #19 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Schools list. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
Civil Eng majors at UC Berkeley take out an average of $14,342 in student loans while working on their egree.
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The College of New Jersey landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best civil engineering programs. TCNJ is a moderately-sized public school located in the suburb of Ewing.
The average amount in student loans that civil eng majors at TCNJ take out is $25,878.
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Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #21 on the list. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public college with a very large student population.
On average, civil eng graduates from Georgia Tech take out $25,567 in student loans while working on their degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $324.
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Virginia Tech ranked #22 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Schools list. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
Civil Eng majors at Virginia Tech take out an average of $25,880 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $519, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
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With a ranking of #23, Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students. Purdue is a very large public school located in the small city of West Lafayette.
The average amount in student loans that civil eng majors at Purdue take out is $20,569.
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With a ranking of #24, Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students. Located in the city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public college with a fairly large student population.
After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from Texas A&M College Station carry an average student debtload of $19,500. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $275.
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North Carolina State University came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Schools ranking. NC State is a very large public school located in the large city of Raleigh.
On average, civil eng graduates from NC State take out $25,688 in student loans while working on their degree.
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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 Civil Engineering Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 38 | University of California - Davis | Davis, CA |
| 39 | Manhattan College | Riverdale, NY |
| 40 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD |
| 41 | Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI |
| 42 | Gonzaga University | Spokane, WA |
| 43 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
| 44 | University of Dayton | Dayton, OH |
| 45 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL |
| 46 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 47 | University of California - San Diego | La Jolla, CA |
| 48 | University of Maryland - College Park | College Park, MD |
| 49 | Tufts University | Medford, MA |
| 50 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | Newark, NJ |
Civil Engineering by Region
View the Best Civil Engineering Schools for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Civil Engineering Rankings
Civil Engineering Related Rankings by Major
Civil Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Civil Eng
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 46,178 |
| Electrical Engineering | 28,844 |
| Computer Engineering | 17,987 |
| Chemical Engineering | 12,917 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 12,811 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 the rest 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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