A degree in civil engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #50 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
College Factual looked at 248 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Civil Engineering Schools ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 20,655 degrees in civil engineering to qualified students.
Your choice of civil 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 civil 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.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Civil Engineering Schools ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Schools for Civil Engineering in the United States
The schools below may not offer all types of civil eng degrees so you may want to filter by degree level first. However, they are great for the degree levels they do offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
Stanford University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in civil engineering. Stanford is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Stanford. A Best Colleges rank of #10 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.
There were approximately 181 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering program at Stanford University make $11,971 above the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
It is difficult to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a degree in civil engineering. 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 2,152 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.
There were roughly 47 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering major at Massachusetts Institute of Technology make $17,036 more than the typical college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.
It is difficult to beat University of California - Davis if you want to pursue a degree in civil engineering. Located in the suburb of Davis, UC Davis is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 10th out of 161 schools for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 227 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Davis in the most recent year we have data available. Civil Engineering degree recipients from University of California - Davis earn a boost of about $5,606 over the average income of civil engineering graduates.
It is hard to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a degree in civil engineering. Northwestern is a fairly 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 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year.
USC is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large 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 approximately 79 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent data year. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from University of Southern California receive $17,116 more than the standard civil eng graduate.
Located in the 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 about 118 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Columbia in the most recent year we have data available. Civil Engineering degree recipients from Columbia University in the City of New York get an earnings boost of around $16,429 over the typical earnings of civil engineering majors.
Located in the city of Seattle, UW Seattle is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 50 colleges for overall quality in the state of Washington.
There were roughly 292 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW Seattle in the most recent year we have data available. Civil Engineering degree recipients from University of Washington - Seattle Campus earn a boost of around $9,938 above the typical earnings of civil engineering graduates.
Located in the city of Newark, NJIT is a public school with a large student population. This school ranks 5th out of 45 schools for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.
There were approximately 312 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at NJIT in the most recent year we have data available. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology make $4,447 more than the typical civil eng grad.
Johns Hopkins is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the 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 42 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent year we have data available.
Located in the large 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 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.
There were roughly 97 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent data year.
UC Berkeley is a fairly large public university located in the midsize city of Berkeley. A Best Colleges rank of #14 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UC Berkeley is a great university overall.
There were approximately 383 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UC Berkeley in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering major at University of California - Berkeley earn $6,373 more than the typical graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
Cornell is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Ithaca. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.
There were approximately 87 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the civil engineering program at Cornell University get $8,492 above the typical college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Stevens is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Hoboken. This school ranks 3rd out of 45 colleges for overall quality in the state of New Jersey.
There were about 57 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stevens in the most recent data year. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from Stevens Institute of Technology receive $6,484 more than the average civil eng graduate.
Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 3rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 313 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $3,759 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
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 approximately 190 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the civil engineering program at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus get $5,084 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Boston. This university ranks 6th out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 168 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northeastern in the most recent data year. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from Northeastern University receive $6,357 more than the standard civil eng graduate.
Located in the midsize 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 colleges for overall quality in the state of Texas.
There were roughly 320 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Texas A&M College Station in the most recent data year. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from Texas A&M University - College Station make $4,145 more than the typical civil eng student.
Located in the large city of New York, NYU is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #16 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means NYU is a great university overall.
There were approximately 85 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at NYU in the most recent year we have data available. Civil Engineering degree recipients from New York University get an earnings boost of around $7,996 over the typical income of civil engineering majors.
Located in the city of Los Angeles, UCLA is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 4th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were roughly 199 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year. Those civil engineering students who get their degree from University of California - Los Angeles make $6,787 more than the typical civil eng student.
UCSD is a very large public university located in the large city of La Jolla. This university ranks 8th out of 161 colleges for overall quality in the state of California.
There were about 187 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCSD in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, civil eng degree recipients typically make about $71,792 in their early careers.
Located in the large city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #7 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Duke is a great university overall.
There were roughly 32 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Duke in the most recent data year.
Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population. This school ranks 2nd out of 57 schools for overall quality in the state of Virginia.
There were about 327 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Virginia Tech in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering degree program at Virginia Tech earn $2,949 above the average college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
WPI is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Worcester. This school ranks 8th out of 63 schools for overall quality in the state of Massachusetts.
There were roughly 61 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at WPI in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the civil engineering major at Worcester Polytechnic Institute make $4,650 more than the typical college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.
Located in the suburb of Notre Dame, Notre Dame is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 41 colleges for overall quality in the state of Indiana.
There were roughly 73 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at Notre Dame in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the civil engineering degree program at University of Notre Dame make $2,730 more than the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
UMCP is a very large public university located in the suburb of College Park. This university ranks 2nd out of 35 schools for overall quality in the state of Maryland.
There were roughly 156 civil engineering students who graduated with this degree at UMCP in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the civil engineering program at University of Maryland - College Park get $4,962 more than the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.
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).
Your choice of civil 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 civil engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
