Chemical Engineering is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #70 most popular degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 155 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Chemical Engineering Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 12,248 degrees in chemical engineering to qualified students.
Your choice of chemical engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for chemical engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
The chem eng 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 Chemical Engineering Schools.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to 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.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for Chemical Engineering in the United States
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the chem eng degrees they offer, see the list below. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
It's hard to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. Located in the medium-sized city of Cambridge, MIT is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.
There were about 113 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology receive $7,677 more than the typical chem eng student.
Stanford University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in chemical engineering. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were about 57 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.
It is hard to beat University of Michigan - Ann Arbor if you want to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. U-M is a very large public university located in the city of Ann Arbor. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.
There were about 131 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent year we have data available. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor make $5,734 more than the typical chem eng grad.
It's difficult to beat Texas A&M University - College Station if you wish to pursue a degree in chemical engineering. Located in the medium-sized city of College Station, Texas A&M College Station is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were approximately 294 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Texas A&M College Station in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering degree program at Texas A&M University - College Station make $12,359 above the standard college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #19 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.
There were about 222 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus earn $12,030 more than the standard chem eng grad.
Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were about 60 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Chemical Engineering degree recipients from Northwestern University get an earnings boost of about $6,892 above the average income of chemical engineering graduates.
Located in the city of Austin, UT Austin is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were about 165 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UT Austin in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from The University of Texas at Austin earn $13,548 more than the average chem eng grad.
Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Ithaca. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were about 120 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from Cornell University make $11,761 more than the standard chem eng graduate.
Located in the large city of New York, Columbia is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #15 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Columbia is a great university overall.
There were approximately 114 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the chem eng program make about $72,005 for their early career.
Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #8 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.
There were roughly 109 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 189 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $3,623 more than the standard college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 41 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.
There were about 111 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering major at University of Notre Dame earn $9,560 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Baltimore. A Best Colleges rank of #6 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.
There were roughly 127 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent data year. After graduating, chem eng degree recipients usually make about $51,267 in the first five years of their career.
Northeastern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston. This university ranks 6th out of 63 colleges for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were about 130 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northeastern in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from Northeastern University earn $8,063 more than the typical chem eng student.
Located in the small city of Bethlehem, Lehigh is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 4th out of 103 schools for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.
There were about 64 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Lehigh in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from Lehigh University earn $8,618 more than the standard chem eng graduate.
UC Berkeley is a very large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were about 152 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering major at University of California - Berkeley get $7,736 more than the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Purdue is a very large public university located in the city of West Lafayette. This university ranks 3rd out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Indiana.
There were roughly 219 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available. Chemical Engineering degree recipients from Purdue University - Main Campus earn a boost of around $7,288 over the typical earnings of chemical engineering graduates.
Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 46 schools for overall quality in the state of Wisconsin.
There were approximately 129 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering degree program at University of Wisconsin - Madison get $12,128 above the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.
Located in the large city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.
There were about 76 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year. Chemical Engineering degree recipients from University of Pennsylvania get an earnings boost of approximately $7,904 over the average earnings of chemical engineering graduates.
Rice is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Houston. This university ranks 3rd out of 115 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were about 44 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Rice in the most recent data year. Chemical Engineering degree recipients from Rice University receive an earnings boost of approximately $14,013 over the typical earnings of chemical engineering majors.
NC State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Raleigh. This university ranks 4th out of 93 schools for overall quality in the state of North Carolina.
There were about 228 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at NC State in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the chemical engineering program at North Carolina State University make $11,325 more than the average college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
RPI is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Troy. This school ranks 6th out of 136 colleges for overall quality in the state of New York.
There were roughly 86 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at RPI in the most recent year we have data available. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute receive $4,446 more than the typical chem eng student.
Ohio State is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Columbus. This university ranks 1st out of 91 schools for overall quality in the state of Ohio.
There were approximately 228 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Ohio State in the most recent data year. Those chemical engineering students who get their degree from Ohio State University - Main Campus make $3,638 more than the average chem eng student.
USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #13 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means USC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 58 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the chem eng program earn an average of $68,234 for their early career.
Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 86 chemical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. After graduating, chem eng degree recipients usually make about $68,337 in their early careers.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Chemical Engineering Schools award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Credit for the banner image above goes to Mikulova.
Your choice of chemical engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for chemical engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
