by our College Data Analytics Team
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate” ranking.
In 2020-2021, 1,472 people earned their degree in agricultural engineering, making the major the 204th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, agricultural engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $57,068 and had an average of $23,086 in loans still to pay off.
At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 128 agricultural engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,260 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate” ranking looked at 27 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in agricultural engineering. To top this list, a school must have a successful agricultural engineering program that graduates more students in the field than other colleges that offer the same major.
Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
The colleges and universities below are the best for doctor’s degree ae students.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Washington State University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. Washington State University is a large school located in Pullman, Washington that handed out 17 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Washington State University Agricultural Engineering Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Purdue University - Main Campus. The school came in at #2 for the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate. Purdue University - Main Campus is located in West Lafayette, Indiana and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 16 doctorate’s AE degrees to qualified students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full Purdue University - Main Campus Agricultural Engineering Report
Out of the 27 schools in the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Maryland - College Park landed the #3 spot on the list. UMCP is a public institution located in College Park, Maryland. The school has a large population, and it awarded 12 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full University of Maryland - College Park Agricultural Engineering Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Texas A&M University - College Station. The school came in at #4 for the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate. This large school is located in College Station, Texas, and it awarded 10 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Agricultural Engineering at Texas A&M University - College Station
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Florida. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. UF is a public institution located in Gainesville, Florida. The school has a large population, and it awarded 8 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
University of California - Davis ranked #6 on this year’s Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. University of California - Davis is a public institution located in Davis, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 7 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Agricultural Engineering at University of California - Davis
Iowa State University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. Iowa State University is located in Ames, Iowa and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 7 doctorate’s AE degrees to qualified students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Virginia Tech came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. Virginia Tech is a large school located in Blacksburg, Virginia that handed out 6 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 6 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. UMN Twin Cities is a public institution located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
University of Hawaii at Manoa came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. Honolulu, Hawaii is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s AE degrees to 5 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at University of Hawaii at Manoa
Kansas State University ranked #12 on this year’s Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. This large school is located in Manhattan, Kansas, and it awarded 4 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
University of Kentucky came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. University of Kentucky is located in Lexington, Kentucky and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 4 doctorate’s AE degrees to qualified students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at University of Kentucky
Cornell University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking, coming in at #14. Cornell is a large school located in Ithaca, New York that handed out 3 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Agricultural Engineering at Cornell University
University of Wisconsin - Madison came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. This large school is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at UW - Madison
Michigan State University landed the #15 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. Located in East Lansing, Michigan, this large public school handed out 2 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s AE students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at Michigan State University
With a ranking of #15, Ohio State University - Main Campus did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. Located in Columbus, Ohio, this large public school handed out 2 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s AE students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
With a ranking of #15, North Dakota State University - Main Campus did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. Fargo, North Dakota is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s AE degrees to 2 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at North Dakota State University
Oklahoma State University - Main Campus came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. Oklahoma State University - Main Campus is a public institution located in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The school has a large population, and it awarded 2 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at Oklahoma State University - Main Campus
North Carolina State University ranked #15 on this year’s Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, this large public school handed out 2 degrees to qualified doctorate’s AE students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
University of Georgia did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking, coming in at #15. Athens, Georgia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s AE degrees to 2 students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
South Dakota State University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking, coming in at #22. South Dakota State University is a fairly large school located in Brookings, South Dakota that handed out 1 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Agricultural Engineering at South Dakota State
With a ranking of #22, Clemson University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. Clemson, South Carolina is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out doctorate’s AE degrees to 1 students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Agricultural Engineering at Clemson University
University of Arizona did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking, coming in at #24. University of Arizona is a public institution located in Tucson, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 0 doctorate’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.
Read more about Agricultural Engineering at University of Arizona
Oregon State University ranked #24 on this year’s Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate list. This large school is located in Corvallis, Oregon, and it awarded 30 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
The University of Tennessee - Knoxville landed the #24 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. The University of Tennessee - Knoxville is a large public school situated in Knoxville, Tennessee. It awarded 13 doctorate’s AE degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at UT Knoxville
Utah State University landed the #24 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended AE Major for a Doctorate ranking. USU is located in Logan, Utah and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 doctorate’s AE degrees to qualified students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on Agricultural Engineering at Utah State University
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
