2023 Best General Engineering Schools
Finding the Best General Engineering School for You
In 2020-2021, 11,796 people earned a degree or certificate in general engineering, making the major the #80 most popular in the United States.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 179 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best General Engineering Schools in the United States
The colleges and universities below are the best for engineering majors pursuing a .
Top 25 Top Schools in General Engineering
Our analysis found Olin College to be the best school for general engineering students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Olin College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Needham.
While working on their degree, engineering majors at Olin College accumulate an average of around $14,492 in student debt.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Harvey Mudd College. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best General Engineering Schools list. Harvey Mudd College is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Claremont.
The average amount in student loans that engineering majors at Harvey Mudd College take out is $20,321. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $429.
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A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Dartmouth College is a great place for general engineering students. Located in the remote town of Hanover, Dartmouth 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 Massachusetts Maritime Academy. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best General Engineering Schools list. Maritime is a small public school located in the midsize suburb of Buzzards Bay.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Duke University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best General Engineering Schools list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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With a ranking of #6, Northwestern University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general engineering students. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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University of California - Los Angeles landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general engineering programs. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.
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With a ranking of #8, University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well on this year’s best schools for general engineering students. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a fairly large student population.
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Brown University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Brown is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Providence.
The average amount in student loans that engineering majors at Brown take out is $14,750.
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With a ranking of #10, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for general engineering students. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.
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With a ranking of #11, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best schools for general engineering students. Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a very large student population.
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Vanderbilt University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general engineering programs. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Wake Technical Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #13 on the list. Located in the suburb of Raleigh, Wake Technical Community College is a public college with a very large student population.
After completing their degree, engineering graduates from Wake Technical Community College carry an average student debtload of $8,000.
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Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Located in the city of Terre Haute, Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #15 on the list. UNL is a fairly large public school located in the city of Lincoln.
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University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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Villanova University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Villanova, Villanova is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general engineering programs. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the city of College Station.
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University of California - Davis did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #19 on the list. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public college with a fairly large student population.
On average, engineering graduates from UC Davis take out $13,707 in student loans while working on their degree.
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University of Wisconsin - Platteville came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Located in the town of Platteville, UW - Platteville is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
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Lafayette College came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Lafayette is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Easton.
On average, engineering graduates from Lafayette take out $19,500 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Michigan Technological University ranked #22 on this year’s Best General Engineering Schools list. Michigan Tech is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Houghton.
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Austin Community College District came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Austin Community College District is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.
On average, engineering graduates from Austin Community College District take out $14,500 in student loans while working on their degree.
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Swarthmore College came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Swarthmore is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Swarthmore.
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With a ranking of #25, Colorado School of Mines did quite well on this year’s best schools for general engineering students. Located in the suburb of Golden, Mines is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
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Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for General Engineering students that almost earned our Best General Engineering Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Purdue University - Main Campus | West Lafayette, IN |
| 28 | Santa Clara University | Santa Clara, CA |
| 29 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus | Pittsburgh, PA |
| 30 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 31 | University of Colorado Boulder | Boulder, CO |
| 32 | Grand Valley State University | Allendale, MI |
| 33 | Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI |
| 34 | Auburn University | Auburn, AL |
| 35 | San Jose State University | San Jose, CA |
General Engineering by Region
View the Best General 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 General Engineering Rankings
Rankings in Majors Related to Engineering
One of 40 majors within the area of study, general engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 46,178 |
| Electrical Engineering | 28,844 |
| Civil Engineering | 21,388 |
| Computer Engineering | 17,987 |
| Chemical Engineering | 12,917 |
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 Rémi Kaupp.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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