2023 Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania
Finding the Best Engineering School for You
In 2020-2021, engineering students earned 10,045 degrees and certificates from a Pennsylvania school, making the subject the 4th in the state.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. This report analyzed 17 schools in Pennsylvania to see which ones offered the best programs for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
2023 Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania
The following schools top our list of the Best Engineering Colleges.
Top 10 Best Engineering Schools
Our analysis found Carnegie Mellon University to be the best school for engineering students who want to pursue a degree in Pennsylvania. Located in the large city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
On average, engineering graduates from Carnegie Mellon take out $23,649 in student loans while working on their degree.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bucknell University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the distant town of Lewisburg, Bucknell is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
The average amount in student loans that engineering majors at Bucknell take out is $25,781.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Philadelphia.
After completing their degree, engineering graduates from UPenn carry an average student debtload of $12,474.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lafayette College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
On average, engineering graduates from Lafayette take out $19,563 in student loans while working on their degree.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Lehigh University is a great place for engineering students. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Bethlehem.
On average, engineering graduates from Lehigh take out $24,667 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $633.
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Villanova University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best engineering programs. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Villanova.
On average, engineering graduates from Villanova take out $26,360 in student loans while working on their degree.
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University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best schools for engineering students. It came in at #7 on the list. Pitt is a fairly large public school located in the city of Pittsburgh.
On average, engineering graduates from Pitt take out $26,538 in student loans while working on their degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $481, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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York College of Pennsylvania ranked #8 on this year’s Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized suburb of York.
After completing their degree, engineering graduates from YCP carry an average student debtload of $27,000.
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With a ranking of #9, University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown did quite well on this year’s best schools for engineering students. Pitt Johnstown is a small public school located in the suburb of Johnstown.
The average amount in student loans that engineering majors at Pitt Johnstown take out is $26,994. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $481, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
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Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is a small public school located in the small city of Lancaster.
Engineering majors at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology take out an average of $11,476 in student loans while working on their egree.
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Request InformationBest Engineering Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
Explore all the Best Engineering Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| New Jersey | 4,817 |
| New York | 12,696 |
| Maryland | 4,465 |
| Delaware | 580 |
| District of Columbia | 689 |
More Engineering Rankings in Pennsylvania
Rankings in Majors Related to Engineering
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 17 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.