Top Engineering Schools in the US in 2019

The recent QS World University Rankings by Subjectcovers the best universities for 48 different subjects, including 505 top engineering and technology schools around the world – 94 of which are in the US.

The ranking covers five different branches of engineering – chemical, civil and structural, electrical, mechanical, and mineral and mining.

The rankings are compiled using four indicators: academic reputation, employer reputation, research citations per paper and the h-index (a way of measuring the productivity and impact of published work).  You can find out more about the methodology used here.

If you’re interested in studying engineering in the US, read on for a look at the best universities in each branch of engineering, starting with the overall engineering and technology top 10 in the US.

MIT is the leader in the US (and the world) in this year’s engineering and technology subject area table. There are currently 16  US universities featured in the top 50 in the world, including Purdue University, rising an impressive 30 places this year to reach 43^rdplace and Northwestern University, which climbs 44 places to joint 50^th.

See the full engineering and technology subject ranking here.

Top Universities for Chemical Engineering

The chemical engineering index features 300 universities in 2019, with 70 located in the US. Of these 70 US universities, an incredible 18 are in the world top 50. Other top US universities for chemical engineering that narrowly missed out on the top five include the University of Texas at Austin(17^th), University of Wisconsin-Madison(18^th) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA, 19^th)

Once again, MIT takes the top spot in the Chemical Engineering rankings in 2019. MIT started running its chemical engineering course in 1888 and since then the department has evolved to define and advance the field, with over 6,000 alumni working in industry, government and academia. 

View the full chemical engineering ranking here.

Top Universities for Civil and Structural Engineering

The Civil and Structural Engineering rankings feature 202 universities across the world this year, including 37 in the US. This year’s rankings see UCB climb four places to rank third in the world, and Stanford University remains in third place in the US, despite dropping five places in the world subject rankings.

Other universities which feature within the top ten in the US are Purdue University(29^th), University of Michigan(34^th), Texas A&M University(47^th) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech, 51-100^th).

See the full civil and structural engineering ranking here. 

Top Universities for Electrical Engineering

Theelectrical engineering subject ranking includes 84 US universities in 2019.  Of these 84, 16 rank within the top 50. Once again, MIT is in first place, achieving perfect scores in both the employer reputation and academic reputation indicators. UCLA remains in fifth place this year, despite dropping four places in the world subject rankings.

Other notable universities in the US, all in the top 10 in the US for electrical engineering, include Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, 14^th), California Institute of Technology (Caltech, 15^th) and Carnegie Mellon University (rising two places in the world subject rankings to 16^thplace this year.)

See the full electrical engineering ranking here.

Top Universities for Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering

The mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering subject rankings feature 502 top universities in the world, of which 90 are in the US. As with the other branches of engineering we have explored so far, MIT takes the top spot, closely followed by Stanford University in second place. Stanford University scores well in all indicators, in particular the h-index and citations per faculty, showing the quality of the institution’s academic output.

Notable mentions include Northwestern University, ranking 10^thin the US and climbing four places in the world subject rankings this year to place joint 32^nd.

See the full mineral and mining engineering rankings here.

Top Universities for Mineral and Mining

Included for the first time in 2016, the mineral and mining engineering rankings is the smallest of the five, with only 50 universities featured this year. Eight of these are located in the US, withthe Colorado School of Mines placing first in the world for mining engineering, earning a perfect score in the academic reputation indicator. Other notable universities in the US include University of Utah(35^th) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (46^th) and Missouri University of Science and Technology(48^th).

See the full mineral and mining engineering rankings here.