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2023 Best General Engineering Schools

179 Colleges
$68,873 Avg Salary
$20,557 Avg Student Debt

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

#1

Olin College

Needham, MA

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.

Read full report on General Engineering at Olin College

#2

Harvey Mudd College

Claremont, CA

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvey Mudd College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best General Engineering Schools list. Harvey Mudd College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the 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.

Read full report on General Engineering at Harvey Mudd College

#3

Dartmouth College

Hanover, NH

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Dartmouth College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best General Engineering Schools list. Located in the remote town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on General Engineering at Dartmouth College

#4

Massachusetts Maritime Academy

Buzzards Bay, MA

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 medium-sized suburb of Buzzards Bay.

Read full report on General Engineering at Massachusetts Maritime Academy

#5

Duke University

Durham, NC

The excellent programs at Duke University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best general engineering schools in the United States. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read full report on General Engineering at Duke University

#6

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University ranked #6 on this year’s Best General Engineering Schools list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.

Full General Engineering at Northwestern University Report

With a ranking of #7, University of California - Los Angeles did quite well on this year’s best schools for general engineering students. Located in the large city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on General Engineering at University of California - Los Angeles

University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #8 on this year’s Best General Engineering Schools list. Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on General Engineering at University of Wisconsin - Madison

#9

Brown University

Providence, RI

Brown University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general engineering programs. Brown is a 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.

Read full report on General Engineering at Brown University

#10

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #10 on the list. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.

Read full report on General Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University

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 large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public school with a very large student population.

Read More…

#12

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full General Engineering at Vanderbilt University Report

Wake Technical Community College came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Raleigh, Wake Technical Community College is a public school 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.

Read full report on General Engineering at Wake Technical Community College

Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #14 on the list. Located in the city of Terre Haute, Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Full General Engineering at Rose - Hulman Institute of Technology Report

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 very large public school located in the city of Lincoln.

Read More…

University of California - Berkeley ranked #16 on this year’s Best General Engineering Schools list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on General Engineering at University of California - Berkeley

#17

Villanova University

Villanova, PA

Villanova University landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general engineering programs. Located in the 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 came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the city of College Station.

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University of California - Davis landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general engineering programs. Located in the small suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public school 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 landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best general engineering programs. Located in the town of Platteville, UW - Platteville is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#21

Lafayette College

Easton, PA

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 suburb of Easton.

On average, engineering graduates from Lafayette take out $19,500 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full General Engineering at Lafayette College Report

Michigan Technological University came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best General Engineering Schools ranking. Michigan Tech is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Houghton.

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Austin Community College District did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #23 on the list. Austin Community College District is a fairly 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.

Full General Engineering at Austin Community College District Report

#24

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, PA

With a ranking of #24, Swarthmore College did quite well on this year’s best schools for general engineering students. Swarthmore is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Swarthmore.

Read More…

Colorado School of Mines did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for general engineering students. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the large suburb of Golden, Mines is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Read full report on General Engineering at Colorado School of Mines

Rest of the Top Best General Engineering Schools

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

One of 40 majors within the area of study, general engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

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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