Back to Rankings
Go to major

WD-40 & Duct Tape

Mechanical Engineering & Robotics

Mad Scientists' Machine Shop

The absolute pinnacle of "Mind and Hand." They have the academic rigor of theoretical physicists, but the grease-stained hands of a Formula 1 pit crew. They don't just write papers; they build terrifying robots that will eventually hunt us for sport or cook us dinner. One or the other.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 MIT
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 113 5% 50% / 50% 3% $100,511 94 94% —
2 Stanford
Palo Alto, CA
Palo Alto, CA 57 4% 65% / 35% 5% $125,956 99 96% —
3 Georgia Tech
Atlanta, GA
Atlanta, GA 458 13% 78% / 22% 11% $98,820 96 96% —
4 U. of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA 226 11% 75% / 25% 12% $98,267 96 93% —
5 Caltech
Pasadena, CA
Pasadena, CA 39 4% 38% / 62% 0% $110,149 97 — —
6 U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL
Champaign, IL 336 37% 82% / 18% 27% $96,927 95 97% —
7 Carnegie Mellon
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 105 11% 47% / 53% 10% $116,928 98 100% —
8 U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI
Ann Arbor, MI 296 16% 74% / 26% 11% $101,035 92 97% —
9 Cornell
Ithaca, NY
Ithaca, NY 171 8% 56% / 44% 5% $109,241 95 96% —
10 Purdue
West Lafayette, IN
West Lafayette, IN 792 43% 84% / 16% 9% $99,346 97 97% —
11 U. of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
Austin, TX 279 22% 78% / 22% 3% $104,834 97 97% —
12 Texas A&M University - College Station
College Station, TX
College Station, TX 416 52% 86% / 14% 2% $102,460 97 97% —
13 Pennsylvania State
University Park, PA
University Park, PA 379 55% 87% / 13% 12% $93,727 93 98% —
14 UCLA
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 166 9% 70% / 30% 9% $96,172 93 93% —
15 U. of California, San Diego
La Jolla, CA
La Jolla, CA 248 29% 73% / 27% 17% $88,537 88 96% —
16 U. of Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI
Madison, WI 270 41% 87% / 13% 6% $98,806 95 98% —
17 U. of Washington
Seattle, WA
Seattle, WA 179 42% 79% / 21% 7% $85,996 90 94% —

Whiteboard-preferred

Elite private institutions where mechanical engineering is more theory than hands-on. They will mathematically optimize your heat transfer models or derive fluid dynamics on a glass wall, but they might call a mechanic if their car gets a flat tire.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Princeton
Princeton, NJ
Princeton, NJ 49 4% 61% / 39% 8% $107,086 96 100% —
2 Harvard
Cambridge, MA
Cambridge, MA 34 4% 68% / 32% 24% $93,177 89 — —
3 Columbia
New York, NY
New York, NY 69 4% 61% / 39% 6% $96,749 89 93% —
4 U. of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia, PA 63 5% 71% / 29% 11% $115,505 98 97% —
5 Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Evanston, IL 109 7% 63% / 37% 14% $101,552 92 96% —
6 Yale
New Haven, CT
New Haven, CT 20 3% 65% / 35% 20% $103,871 93 — —
7 Duke
Durham, NC
Durham, NC 114 5% 67% / 33% 9% $128,324 99 94% —
8 Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD
Baltimore, MD 50 6% 66% / 34% 12% $114,049 97 98% —
9 Rice
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 74 8% 78% / 22% 11% $107,193 95 94% —
10 Brown
Providence, RI
Providence, RI 27 6% 67% / 33% 4% — — — —
11 U. of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles, CA 105 11% 66% / 34% 10% $94,975 88 94% —
12 U. of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Charlottesville, VA 90 13% 72% / 28% 2% $90,154 86 90% —
13 U. of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
Notre Dame, IN 109 9% 65% / 35% 6% $98,505 89 98% —
14 Case Western Reserve
Cleveland, OH
Cleveland, OH 87 35% 85% / 15% 9% $96,427 88 99% —
15 Boston University
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 185 13% 78% / 22% 15% $89,365 84 95% —
16 New York University
New York, NY
New York, NY 82 9% 77% / 23% 26% $77,972 73 94% —

The Defense Budget Beneficiaries

If it flies, explodes, or orbits, someone from these programs probably built it. Heavily funded by the Pentagon and aerospace giants, they spend four years stressing over Mach numbers so they can legally play with classified rockets.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 U. of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO
Boulder, CO 263 71% 81% / 19% 4% $88,828 90 95% —
2 U. of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MD
College Park, MD 292 45% 80% / 20% 1% $96,373 95 94% —
3 Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
Blacksburg, VA 310 55% 90% / 10% 5% $98,422 96 95% —
4 United States Naval Academy
Annapolis, MD
Annapolis, MD 114 9% 85% / 15% 2% $93,742 — — —
5 United States Military Academy
West Point, NY
West Point, NY 73 12% 86% / 14% 4% $94,631 — — —
6 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Beach, FL 108 72% 85% / 15% 2% $92,265 93 95% —

The Boutique Pressure Cookers

Tiny, incredibly intense undergrad-only programs where everyone knows everyone and the professors will personally hunt you down if your CAD assembly fails. Zero sleep, infinite stress, flawless fundamentals.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Harvey Mudd
Claremont, CA
Claremont, CA — 12% — — — — — —
2 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Terre Haute, IN
Terre Haute, IN 148 81% 81% / 19% 3% $96,664 91 95% —
3 Cooper Union
New York, NY
New York, NY 26 12% 54% / 46% 12% $93,524 93 — —
4 Bucknell
Lewisburg, PA
Lewisburg, PA 43 32% 84% / 16% 7% $101,417 92 100% —
5 Villanova
Villanova, PA
Villanova, PA 74 28% 68% / 32% 3% $113,122 97 99% —

Rust Belt Royalty & Co-op Cults

Colleges hidden in the snow or adjacent to industrial parks where you spend half your degree actually working at a real company. You won't get clout on TikTok, but you'll graduate with real-world experience and zero fear of angle grinders.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Northeastern
Boston, MA
Boston, MA 278 22% 71% / 29% 6% $98,588 91 97% —
2 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
Troy, NY 163 63% 84% / 16% 10% $91,523 88 96% —
3 Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, MA
Worcester, MA 294 62% 67% / 33% 5% $98,034 93 98% —
4 Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, NY
Rochester, NY 222 71% 76% / 24% 2% $89,381 87 96% —
5 Kettering
Flint, MI
Flint, MI 133 68% 83% / 17% 1% $103,695 96 100% —
6 Michigan Technological
Houghton, MI
Houghton, MI 241 86% 83% / 17% 0% $91,305 91 98% —
7 Iowa State
Ames, IA
Ames, IA 319 85% 84% / 16% 5% $93,726 95 98% —
8 U. of Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati, OH 206 85% 100% / 13% 0% $95,284 96 97% —
9 Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 54 66% 80% / 20% 20% $87,901 87 93% —
10 Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO
Golden, CO 355 29% 77% / 23% 1% $92,158 92 97% —
11 San Jose State
San Jose, CA
San Jose, CA 176 80% 87% / 13% 2% $100,581 98 95% —

The Kinetic Energy Cartel

Massive state schools churning out the absolute backbone of the engineering workforce. They are running on pure caffeine and spite, ready to keep the physical world from plunging into the dark ages by optimizing your local HVAC systems.

# ▲ University Location Degrees Accept SAT Male/Female Intl Earnings ROI Employ
1 Ohio State
Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH 246 49% 86% / 14% 6% $98,278 95 97% —
2 North Carolina State
Raleigh, NC
Raleigh, NC 284 40% 82% / 18% 2% $93,305 94 100% —
3 U. of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Gainesville, FL 260 20% 73% / 27% 3% $93,947 96 94% —
4 Michigan State
East Lansing, MI
East Lansing, MI 240 83% 78% / 23% 10% $99,921 95 99% —
5 Arizona State
Tempe, AZ
Tempe, AZ 342 88% 83% / 17% 10% $91,632 94 97% —
6 U. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA
Irvine, CA 225 29% 77% / 23% 14% $84,332 86 95% —
7 Clemson
Clemson, SC
Clemson, SC 273 42% 82% / 18% 1% $91,328 92 97% —
8 U. of California, Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara, CA 86 38% 84% / 16% 1% $90,775 91 90% —
9 U. of California, Davis
Davis, CA
Davis, CA 125 46% 77% / 23% 17% $90,941 91 94% —
10 U. of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Orlando, FL 407 43% 81% / 19% 4% $90,044 95 96% —
11 U. of Delaware
Newark, DE
Newark, DE 123 72% 83% / 17% 6% $90,889 92 100% —
12 Oregon State
Corvallis, OR
Corvallis, OR 345 75% 85% / 15% 5% $90,105 93 97% —
13 U. of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Salt Lake City, UT 153 82% 88% / 12% 5% $87,727 92 99% —
14 Auburn
Auburn, AL
Auburn, AL 198 47% 86% / 14% 3% $98,944 96 95% —
15 U. of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL
Tuscaloosa, AL 178 71% 83% / 17% 1% $97,878 96 97% —
16 U. of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Pittsburgh, PA 155 59% 91% / 21% 0% $95,025 94 100% —
17 Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO
Fort Collins, CO 174 82% 87% / 13% 2% $88,049 92 96% —
18 U. of Connecticut
Storrs, CT
Storrs, CT 189 54% 84% / 16% 3% $90,539 92 95% —
19 U. of Oklahoma - Norman
Norman, OK
Norman, OK 80 72% 84% / 16% 13% $99,639 97 92% —
20 Oklahoma State
Stillwater, OK
Stillwater, OK 206 68% 85% / 15% 1% $98,907 97 96% —
21 U. of Houston
Houston, TX
Houston, TX 200 76% 86% / 14% 17% $97,947 97 98% —
22 U. of Kentucky
Lexington, KY
Lexington, KY 133 90% 88% / 12% 2% $95,488 95 98% —
23 U. of South Carolina
Columbia, SC
Columbia, SC 105 55% 85% / 15% 5% $91,758 93 92% —
24 Texas Tech
Lubbock, TX
Lubbock, TX 283 69% 87% / 13% 5% $97,992 97 96% —
25 Washington State
Pullman, WA
Pullman, WA 204 75% 89% / 11% 1% $92,072 95 94% —
26 U. of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL
Chicago, IL 169 76% 91% / 9% 7% $87,303 92 95% —
27 U. of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
Riverside, CA 125 86% 87% / 13% 5% $85,028 87 93% —
28 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL
Tallahassee, FL 100 20% 81% / 19% 4% $93,632 97 96% —
29 George Washington
Washington, DC
Washington, DC 27 47% 59% / 41% 4% $92,187 87 100% —
30 U. of Texas at Dallas
Dallas, TX
Dallas, TX 203 72% 87% / 13% 3% $86,095 89 93% —
31 Florida International
Miami, FL
Miami, FL 165 42% 85% / 15% 8% $86,654 95 95% —