2023 Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools
Finding the Best Engineering Doctor's Degree School for You
With 198,468 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, engineering is the #7 most popular major in the United States.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools ranking. This report analyzed 177 schools in the United States to see which ones offered the best doctor's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in the United States
Check out the engineering doctor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best education that money can buy.
Top 25 Top Schools for a Doctorate in Engineering
Our 2023 rankings named Massachusetts Institute of Technology the best school in the United States for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.
Request Information
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Harvard University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Request Information
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Rice University is a great place for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
Read full report on Engineering at Rice University
Request Information
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Duke University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Engineering at Duke University
Request Information
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Princeton University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Princeton is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Princeton.
Request Information
Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
Request Information
University of Notre Dame came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
Request Information
With a ranking of #8, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on this year’s best schools for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Carnegie Mellon is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Pittsburgh.
Request Information
With a ranking of #9, Brown University did quite well on this year’s best schools for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Brown is a large private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Providence.
Request Information
University of Virginia - Main Campus ranked #10 on this year’s Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. University of Virginia is a very large public school located in the small suburb of Charlottesville.
Read full report on Engineering at University of Virginia - Main Campus
Request Information
University of Pennsylvania ranked #11 on this year’s Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Full Engineering at University of Pennsylvania Report
Request Information
Vanderbilt University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree engineering programs. Located in the city of Nashville, Vanderbilt is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
Read full report on Engineering at Vanderbilt University
Request Information
The University of Texas at Austin landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree engineering programs. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population.
Full Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin Report
Request Information
With a ranking of #14, Washington University in St Louis did quite well on this year’s best schools for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. WUSTL is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Saint Louis.
Request Information
Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree engineering programs. Georgia Tech is a fairly large public school located in the city of Atlanta.
Read full report on Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus
Request Information
University of California - Berkeley did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Berkeley
Request Information
Santa Clara University ranked #17 on this year’s Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Santa Clara.
Request Information
Cornell University landed the #18 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree engineering programs. Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
Request Information
Purdue University - Main Campus ranked #19 on this year’s Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public college with a very large student population.
Full Engineering at Purdue University - Main Campus Report
Request Information
With a ranking of #20, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor did quite well on this year’s best schools for engineering students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a very large student population.
Read full report on Engineering at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Request Information
University of Wisconsin - Madison ranked #21 on this year’s Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools list. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public school with a fairly large student population.
Full Engineering at University of Wisconsin - Madison Report
Request Information
Colorado School of Mines came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools ranking. Located in the large suburb of Golden, Mines is a public college with a medium-sized student population.
Read full report on Engineering at Colorado School of Mines
Request Information
Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #23 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree engineering programs. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of College Station.
Full Engineering at Texas A&M University - College Station Report
Request Information
Virginia Tech landed the #24 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best doctor’s degree engineering programs. Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the small city of Blacksburg.
Read full report on Engineering at Virginia Tech
Request Information
Lehigh University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for engineering students to get a doctor’s degree. It came in at #25 on the list. Located in the small city of Bethlehem, Lehigh is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
Read full report on Engineering at Lehigh University
Request InformationRest of the Top Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Engineering students that almost earned our Best Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Champaign, IL |
| 28 | Michigan Technological University | Houghton, MI |
| 29 | Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI |
| 30 | Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH |
| 31 | Stanford University | Stanford, CA |
| 32 | Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI |
| 33 | North Carolina State University | Raleigh, NC |
| 34 | Iowa State University | Ames, IA |
| 35 | University of California - Los Angeles | Los Angeles, CA |
Engineering by Region
View the Best 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 |
More Engineering Rankings
Engineering Related Rankings by Major
Engineering Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 46,178 |
| Electrical Engineering | 28,844 |
| Civil Engineering | 21,388 |
| Computer Engineering | 17,987 |
| Chemical Engineering | 12,917 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 12,811 |
| General Engineering | 11,796 |
| Industrial Engineering | 9,072 |
| Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering | 8,001 |
| Systems Engineering | 3,904 |
| Materials Engineering | 3,415 |
| Other Engineering | 2,760 |
| Environmental Engineering | 2,759 |
| Operations Research | 1,698 |
| Agricultural Engineering | 1,472 |
| Engineering Science | 1,454 |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering. | 1,378 |
| Petroleum Engineering | 1,256 |
| Robotics Engineering | 1,243 |
| Architectural Engineering | 1,012 |
| Engineering Physics | 994 |
| Manufacturing Engineering | 947 |
| Construction Engineering | 878 |
| Nuclear Engineering | 864 |
| Marine Engineering | 445 |
| Biological Engineering | 410 |
| Polymer & Plastics Engineering | 360 |
| Geoscience Engineering | 325 |
| Mining Engineering | 314 |
| Textile Engineering | 310 |
| Ocean Engineering | 285 |
| Engineering Mechanics | 272 |
| Metallurgical Engineering | 179 |
| Energy Systems Engineering | 138 |
| Biochemical Engineering | 109 |
| Ceramic Engineering | 94 |
| Surveying Engineering | 73 |
| Electromechanical Engineering | 45 |
| Forest Engineering | 41 |
| Paper Science & Engineering | 27 |
| Engineering Chemistry | 13 |
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Computer & Information Sciences | 254,454 |
| Biological & Biomedical Sciences | 177,778 |
| Engineering Technologies | 85,188 |
| Mathematics & Statistics | 52,396 |
| Physical Sciences | 50,306 |
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 Petty Officer 3rd Class Declan Barnes.
More about our data sources and methodologies.