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2023 Best Materials Engineering Schools

100 Colleges
$65,007 Avg Salary
$23,030 Avg Student Debt

Finding the Best Materials Engineering School for You

Materials Engineering is the #158 most popular major in the country with 3,415 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Materials Engineering Schools ranking. Our analysis looked at 100 schools in the United States to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for students.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Materials Engineering Schools in the United States

The following schools top our list of the Best Materials Engineering Colleges.

Top 15% Best Materials Engineering Schools

Our analysis found Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be the best school for materials engineering students who want to pursue a degree in the United States. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Full Materials Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Report

#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Out of the 100 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 small city of Evanston.

Full Materials Engineering at Northwestern University Report

#3

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

The excellent programs at Cornell University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best materials engineering schools in the United States. Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Ithaca.

After completing their degree, materials engineering graduates from Cornell carry an average student debtload of $15,500.

Full Materials Engineering at Cornell University Report

#4

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

Out of the 100 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Dayton landed the # 4 spot on the list. UDayton is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Dayton.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of Dayton

The excellent programs at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best materials engineering schools in the United States. U-M is a fairly large public school located in the city of Ann Arbor.

The average amount in student loans that materials engineering majors at U-M take out is $18,810.

Read More…

#6

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best materials engineering programs. Located in the suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Read More…

#7

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

University of Notre Dame did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for materials engineering students. It came in at #7 on the list. Notre Dame is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Notre Dame.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of Notre Dame

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for materials engineering students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population.

On average, materials engineering graduates from Georgia Tech take out $21,375 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Materials Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus Report

University of Virginia - Main Campus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Materials Engineering Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of Virginia - Main Campus

#10

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Materials Engineering Schools ranking. Purdue is a very large public school located in the city of West Lafayette.

On average, materials engineering graduates from Purdue take out $18,125 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Materials Engineering at Purdue University - Main Campus Report

#11

University of Florida

Gainesville, FL

University of Florida came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Materials Engineering Schools ranking. UF is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville.

Materials Engineering majors at UF take out an average of $14,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

Full Materials Engineering at University of Florida Report

With a ranking of #12, The University of Texas at Austin did quite well on this year’s best schools for materials engineering students. UT Austin is a fairly large public school located in the city of Austin.

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#13

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Materials Engineering Schools ranking. Duke is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Durham.

Read More…

#14

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

University of Pennsylvania landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best materials engineering programs. UPenn is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of Pennsylvania

#15

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA

Lehigh University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for materials engineering students. It came in at #15 on the list. Lehigh is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.

Materials Engineering majors at Lehigh take out an average of $26,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at Lehigh University

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Materials Engineering students that almost earned our Best Materials Engineering Schools award.

Rank College Location
16 University of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI
17 Villanova University Villanova, PA
18 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
19 Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI
20 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA

Materials Engineering by Region

View the Best Materials Engineering Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Great Lakes

Materials Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.

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 Panoramedia.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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