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2024 Best Nuclear Engineering Schools

23 Colleges in the United States
864 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded
$59,111 Avg Early-Career Salary
You'll be studying one of the lesser sought-after majors if you pursue a degree in nuclear engineering. It is ranked #253 out of 395 major degree programs in terms of popularity. While this may limit the number of schools that offer the degree program, there are still top-quality ones to be found.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 23 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for nuclear engineering students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 864 degrees in nuclear engineering to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Nuclear Engineering School

Best Nuclear Engineering Schools The nuclear engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Nuclear Engineering rankings. We derive our Best Overall Nuclear Engineering School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.

Pick Your Nuclear Engineering Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in Nuclear Engineering
Master's Degrees in Nuclear Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Nuclear Engineering

The nuclear engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Nuclear Engineering Schools. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Nuclear Engineering in the United States

The schools below may not offer all types of nuclear engineering degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer.

10 Top Schools in Nuclear Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In MA

Every student who is interested in nuclear engineering needs to take a look at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were approximately 22 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
101 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded
5.0% Growth in Graduates

Texas A&M University - College Station is a good option for students pursuing a degree in nuclear engineering. Located in the city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #44 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Texas A&M College Station is a great university overall.

There were about 101 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at Texas A&M College Station in the most recent data year. Nuclear Engineering degree recipients from Texas A&M University - College Station receive an earnings boost of around $11,460 over the typical earnings of nuclear engineering majors.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University - College Station

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
45 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded

It's difficult to beat University of California - Berkeley if you want to pursue a degree in nuclear engineering. UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #18 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 45 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from University of California - Berkeley

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
32 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded
$73,557 Median Starting Salary

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in nuclear engineering. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #24 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.

There were roughly 32 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the nuclear engineering major at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn $14,446 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
39 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded
$65,618 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 39 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Those nuclear engineering students who get their degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $6,507 more than the standard nuclear engineering grad.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In WI
39 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the large city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were about 39 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from University of Wisconsin - Madison

7
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
38 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded
$63,891 Median Starting Salary

Purdue is a fairly large public university located in the city of West Lafayette. A Best Colleges rank of #40 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Purdue is a great university overall.

There were approximately 38 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the nuclear engineering degree program at Purdue University - Main Campus earn $4,780 more than the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from Purdue University - Main Campus

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
75 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded
17.3% Growth in Graduates

U-M is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were roughly 75 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, nuclear engineering degree recipients usually earn an average of $41,147 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
40 Nuclear Engineering Degrees Awarded
$66,420 Median Starting Salary

NC State is a very large public university located in the city of Raleigh. This university ranks 3rd out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.

There were about 40 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at NC State in the most recent year we have data available. Those nuclear engineering students who get their degree from North Carolina State University receive $7,309 more than the average nuclear engineering graduate.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from North Carolina State University

10
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In FL

Located in the medium-sized city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #58 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UF is a great university overall.

There were roughly 16 nuclear engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in nuclear engineering from University of Florida

Nuclear Engineering by Region

View the Best Nuclear Engineering Schools for a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

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Nuclear Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Nuclear Engineering Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Nuclear Engineering 864

View All Nuclear Engineering Concentrations >

Related 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

View All Nuclear Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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