Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools

138 Colleges
$103,564 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 46,178 people earned a degree or certificate in mechanical engineering, making the major the #21 most popular in the United States.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 138 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best doctor's degree programs 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 Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best for ME majors pursuing a doctor's degree.

Top 15% Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Massachusetts Institute of Technology the best school in the United States for mechanical engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. MIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.

Read More…

#2

University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Notre Dame. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of Notre Dame

#3

Duke University

Durham, NC

Out of the 138 schools in the United States that were part of this year’s ranking, Duke University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Duke University Report

#4

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Northwestern University is a great place for mechanical engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.

Read More…

#6

Rice University

Houston, TX

Rice University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree mechanical engineering programs. Located in the large city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

Read More…

#7

Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN

Vanderbilt University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the large city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

The University of Texas at Austin ranked #8 on this year’s Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Michigan Technological University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree mechanical engineering programs. Michigan Tech is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Houghton.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Michigan Technological University

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public college with a very large student population.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

#11

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

With a ranking of #11, Purdue University - Main Campus did quite well on this year’s best schools for mechanical engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University - Main Campus Report

#12

Cornell University

Ithaca, NY

With a ranking of #12, Cornell University did quite well on this year’s best schools for mechanical engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

Read More…

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list. Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Atlanta.

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

University of California - Berkeley ranked #14 on this year’s Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population.

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

#15

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Stanford University landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree mechanical engineering programs. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Stanford.

Read More…

#16

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University Report

University of Wisconsin - Madison did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #17 on the list. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a very large student population.

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

#18

Princeton University

Princeton, NJ

Princeton University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list. Princeton is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Princeton.

Read More…

#19

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA

Virginia Tech ranked #19 on this year’s Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Virginia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech

Texas A&M University - College Station did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for mechanical engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #20 on the list. Texas A&M College Station is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University - College Station

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools award.

Rank College Location
21 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD
22 Michigan State University East Lansing, MI
23 Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA
24 Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA
25 Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO
26 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL
27 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA

Mechanical Engineering by Region

View the Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor'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

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

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
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 Michel Villeneuve.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited colleges across the U.S.