2023 Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree 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 assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 252 schools in the United States to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the civil eng bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering
Our 2023 rankings named Duke University the best school in the United States for civil engineering students working on their bachelor’s degree. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.
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Out of the 252 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Massachusetts Institute of Technology landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the city of Cambridge, MIT 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 Northwestern University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
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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 #4 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Rice is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Houston.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Princeton University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the small city of Princeton, Princeton is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.
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Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Terre Haute.
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University of Notre Dame came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Notre Dame is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Notre Dame.
After completing their Bachelor's Degree, civil eng graduates from Notre Dame carry an average student debtload of $21,501.
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With a ranking of #8, California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their bachelor’s degree. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of San Luis Obispo.
For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $315.
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With a ranking of #9, University of Virginia - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a fairly large student population.
While working on their Bachelor's Degree, civil eng majors at University of Virginia accumulate an average of around $17,503 in student debt.
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Cornell University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.
While working on their Bachelor's Degree, civil eng majors at Cornell accumulate an average of around $13,492 in student debt.
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Lafayette College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree civil engineering programs. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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With a ranking of #12, University of Southern California did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Los Angeles, USC is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
The average amount in student loans that civil eng majors at USC take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $13,793.
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Vanderbilt University landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree civil engineering programs. Vanderbilt is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Nashville.
After completing their Bachelor's Degree, civil eng graduates from Vanderbilt carry an average student debtload of $10,867.
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Bucknell University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree civil engineering programs. Located in the distant town of Lewisburg, Bucknell is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
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Lehigh University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.
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With a ranking of #16, University of California - Berkeley did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their bachelor’s degree. UC Berkeley is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Berkeley.
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With a ranking of #17, Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for civil engineering students working on their bachelor’s degree. Purdue is a very large public school located in the small city of West Lafayette.
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The University of Texas at Austin came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Austin.
The average amount in student loans that civil eng majors at UT Austin take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $21,613. 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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Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus ranked #19 on this year’s Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Civil Eng majors at Georgia Tech take out an average of $26,287 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $324.
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Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree civil engineering programs. Located in the midsize city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public college with a very large student population.
For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $275.
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Virginia Tech did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for civil engineering students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #21 on the 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 $22,373 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree. 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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The College of New Jersey came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. TCNJ is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Ewing.
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University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. UW - Madison is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Madison.
Civil Eng majors at UW - Madison take out an average of $22,819 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.
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Stanford University landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best bachelor’s degree civil engineering programs. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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University of Michigan - Ann Arbor came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools ranking. U-M is a very large public school located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor.
Civil Eng majors at U-M take out an average of $15,565 in student loans while working on their Bachelor's Degree.
Read full report on Civil Engineering at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
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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 Bachelor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 38 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
| 39 | University of Florida | Gainesville, FL |
| 40 | Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI |
| 41 | Gonzaga University | Spokane, WA |
| 42 | Manhattan College | Riverdale, NY |
| 43 | University of Maryland - College Park | College Park, MD |
| 44 | Michigan Technological University | Houghton, MI |
| 45 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
| 46 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 47 | George Washington University | Washington, DC |
| 48 | Saint Louis University | Saint Louis, MO |
| 49 | Columbia University in the City of New York | New York, NY |
| 50 | University of Georgia | Athens, GA |
Civil Engineering by Region
View the Best Civil Engineering Bachelor's Degree 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.