Top Engineering Colleges

When students begin their college search, there are a variety of variables that go into where they decide to go. One of these factors is which school has the best program for what the prospective student wants to study. Niche and U.S News and World Report have released lists of the top engineering schools in the United States for 2020. 

Niche’s list is an overall top engineering college list. These lists include reviews on the program, location, acceptance rate, average SAT score and cost of attendance. This allows people reviewing the list to see a variety of different aspects of each school while also seeing where they rank nationally. 

Niche 2020 list: 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology    

Location: Cambridge,MA

Acceptance Rate: 7 percent 

SAT Score Range: 1490-1570

Stanford University

Location: Stanford,CA

Acceptance Rate: 5 percent

SAT Score Range: 1390-1540

California Institute of Technology 

Location: Pasadena,CA

Acceptance Rate: 8 percent 

SAT Score Range: 1530-1590

Rice University 

Location: Houston,TX

Acceptance Rate: 16 percent 

SAT Score Range: 1490-1580

Princeton University 

Location: Princeton, NJ

Acceptance Rate: 6 percent

SAT Score Range: 1430-1570

Yale University 

Location: New Haven, CT

Acceptance Rate: 7 percent

SAT Score Range: 1460-1580

Harvard University 

Location: Cambridge, MA

Acceptance Rate: 5 percent

SAT Score Range: 1460-1590

Vanderbilt University

Location: Nashville, TN

Acceptance Rate: 11 percent 

SAT Score Range: 1440-1570

Columbia University 

Location: New York, NY

Acceptance Rate: 7 percent

SAT Score Range: 1410-1570

Duke University 

Location: Durham, NC

Acceptance Rate: 10 percent

SAT Score Range: 1380-1540

University of Pennsylvania

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Acceptance Rate: 9 percent

SAT Score Range: 1420-1560

Cornell University 

Location: Ithaca, NY

Acceptance Rate: 13 percent 

SAT Score Range: 1390-1550

Washington University in St. Louis

Location: Saint Louis, MO

Acceptance Rate: 16 percent

SAT Score Range: 1470-1570

Hopkins University 

Location: Baltimore, MD

Acceptance Rate: 13 percent 

SAT Score Range: 1450-1570

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering 

Location: Needham, MA

Acceptance Rate: 13 percent

SAT Score Range: 1450-1570

University of Southern California

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Acceptance Rate: 17 percent

SAT Score Range: 1300-1500

University of Notre Dame

Location: Notre Dame, IN

Acceptance Rate: 19 percent

SAT Score Range: 1370-1520

Northwestern University 

Location: Evanston, IL

Acceptance Rate: 9 percent 

SAT Score Range: 1420-1560

Georgia Institute of Technology

Location: Atlanta, GA

Acceptance Rate: 23 percent

SAT Score Range: 1090-1520

University of California- Los Angeles 

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Acceptance Rate: 16 percent

SAT Score Range: 1220-1450

U.S News and World Report takes a unique approach with their lists. They narrow it down by the top college for different engineering programs. This allows students who know exactly what type of engineering they want to major in to further narrow down which school is best for them.  

U.S News and World Report Top Aerospace Engineering Schools 2020:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
2. Georgia Institute of Technology 
3. California Institute of Technology 
4. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University 
5. Purdue University – West Lafayette 
6. Stanford University 
7. University of Texas – Austin
8. University of Michigan- Ann Arbor 
9. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
10. University of Colorado – Boulder 
11. Texas A&M University – College Station 
12. Pennsylvania State University – University Park 

U.S News and World Report Top Biomedical Engineering Schools:

1. John Hopkins University 
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
3. Duke University 
4. Georgia Institute of Technology 
5. Stanford University 
6. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
7. University of California – San Diego 
8. Rice University 
9. University of California – Berkeley 
10. University of Pennsylvania
11. Northwestern University 
12. Boston University 
13. University of Texas – Austin 

U.S News and World Report Top Mechanical Engineering Schools: 

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
2. University of California – Berkeley 
3. Georgia Institute of Technology 
4. Stanford University 
5. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
6. University of Illinois- Urbana-Champaign
7. California Institute of Technology  
8. Purdue University – West Lafayette
9. Carnegie Mellon University 
10. Cornell University 
11. University of Texas – Austin
12. Northwestern University

U.S News and World Report Top Electrical Engineering Schools:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2. University of California – Berkeley 
3. Stanford University 
4. Georgia Institute of Technology 
5. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign 
6. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
7. California Institute of Technology 
8. Carnegie Mellon University 
9. Purdue University – West Lafayette 
10. University of Texas – Austin 
11. Cornell University 
12. University of California – Los Angeles 

U.S News and World Report Top Environmental/Environmental Engineering Schools:

1. University of California – Berkeley 
2. Stanford University 
3. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
4. Georgia Institute of Technology 
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
6. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
7. University of Texas – Austin
8. Cornell University 
9. Carnegie Mellon University 
10. Virginia Tech 
11. Purdue University – West Lafayette 
12. Pennsylvania State University – University Park 

U.S News and World Report Top Computer Engineering Schools:  

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
2. Carnegie Mellon University 
3. University of California – Berkeley 
4. Georgia Institute of Technology 
5. Stanford University 
6. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
7. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
8. University of Texas – Austin 
9. Cornell University 
10. Purdue University – West Lafayette 
11. Princeton University 
12. University of Washington 

U.S News and World Report Top Civil Engineering Schools: 

1. University of California – Berkeley 
2. Georgia Institute of Technology 
3. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign 
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
5. Purdue University – West Lafayette 
6. University of Texas – Austin 
7. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
8. Stanford University 
9. Virginia Tech 
10. Texas A&M University – College Station 
11. Cornell University 
12. Carnegie Mellon University 

U.S News and World Report Top Petroleum Engineering Schools: 

1. Texas A&M University – College Station 
2. University of Texas – Austin 
3. Louisiana State University – Baton Rouge 
4. Pennsylvania State University – University Park 
5. Colorado School of Mines
6. University of Oklahoma 

U.S News and World Report Top Industrial/ Manufacturing Engineering Schools:

1. Georgia Institute of Technology 
2. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
3. Purdue University – West Lafayette 
4. Virginia Tech 
5. University of California – Berkeley 
6. Cornell University 
7. Northwestern University 
8. Pennsylvania State University – University Park 
9. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign 
10. Stanford University 
11. University of Wisconsin – Madison 
12. Texas A&M University – College Station 

U.S News and World Report Top Materials Engineering Schools:

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 
2. Georgia Institute of Technology 
3. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign 
4. University of California – Berkeley 
5. Northwestern University 
6. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 
7. Stanford University 
8. Cornell University 
9. California Institute of Technology 
10. Carnegie Mellon University 
11. Pennsylvania State University – University Park 
12. Purdue University – West Lafayette 

All of these lists were created to help students with an interest in STEM navigate their college search easier. They offer not only rankings but other important factors such as tuition, acceptance rates and even reviews of what other people have thought of the universities.