College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Materials Engineering Schools

89 Colleges in the United States
3,415 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$65,007 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in materials engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #154 out of 395 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 89 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Materials Engineering Schools ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,415 degrees in materials engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Materials Engineering School

Best Materials Engineering Schools The materials engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Materials Engineering rankings. For our Best Overall Materials Engineering School rankings, we roll up the results of our degree-level rankings, weighted by the number of degrees awarded at that level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Materials Engineering Degree Level

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

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Materials Engineering Schools list, to help you choose the best school for you. 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.

More information on how we come up with our rankings can be found here: College Factual's Data Methodology.

Best Schools for Materials Engineering in the United States

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the materials engineering degree levels they offer. Only those schools that rank in the top 15% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.

13 Top Schools in Materials Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
59 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
11.9% Growth in Graduates

It is difficult to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a degree in materials engineering. MIT is a large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Cambridge. A Best Colleges rank of #1 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were roughly 59 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent data year. Those materials engineering students who get their degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology make $15,196 more than the standard materials engineering grad.

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

2
Stanford crest
Stanford University
Stanford, CA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In CA
73 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded

It is difficult to beat Stanford University if you wish to pursue a degree in materials engineering. Located in the large suburb of Stanford, Stanford is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #3 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Stanford is a great university overall.

There were about 73 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Stanford in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Stanford University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In IL
82 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded

It is hard to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a degree in materials engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were roughly 82 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Northwestern University

4
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In PA
58 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded

University of Pennsylvania is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in materials engineering. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #4 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were approximately 58 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent year we have data available.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of Pennsylvania

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
114 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$69,159 Median Starting Salary

Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the large city of Atlanta. A Best Colleges rank of #24 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Georgia Tech is a great school overall.

There were approximately 114 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Georgia Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Materials Engineering degree recipients from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus receive an earnings boost of approximately $4,152 over the average earnings of materials engineering graduates.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
81 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$74,526 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #22 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.

There were roughly 81 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the materials engineering degree program at Cornell University make $9,519 above the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from Cornell University

7
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
163 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$70,098 Median Starting Salary

UF is a very large public university located in the city of Gainesville. This university ranks 1st out of 77 colleges for overall quality in the state of Florida.

There were approximately 163 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent year we have data available. Materials Engineering degree recipients from University of Florida earn a boost of about $5,091 over the typical income of materials engineering majors.

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

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
97 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$69,257 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 2nd out of 42 schools for overall quality in the state of Indiana.

There were roughly 97 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Purdue in the most recent year we have data available. Materials Engineering degree recipients from Purdue University - Main Campus get an earnings boost of around $4,250 over the typical income of materials engineering majors.

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

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In CA
76 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded

UCLA is a fairly large public university located in the large city of Los Angeles. A Best Colleges rank of #26 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UCLA is a great university overall.

There were roughly 76 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UCLA in the most recent data year.

More information about a degree in materials engineering from University of California - Los Angeles

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
119 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
19.3% Growth in Graduates

Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #29 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means U-M is a great university overall.

There were approximately 119 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at U-M in the most recent data year. Those materials engineering students who get their degree from University of Michigan - Ann Arbor make $8,847 more than the average materials engineering graduate.

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

11
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
109 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$64,436 Median Starting Salary

UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. This university ranks 3rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were about 109 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the materials engineering program report average early career wages of $64,436.

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

12
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
60 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded
$64,892 Median Starting Salary

UW - Madison is a very large public university located in the city of Madison. A Best Colleges rank of #30 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UW - Madison is a great university overall.

There were about 60 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at UW - Madison in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the materials engineering program state that they receive average early career wages of $64,892.

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

13
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1st Most Popular In TX
83 Materials Engineering Degrees Awarded

Texas A&M College Station is a very large public university located in the medium-sized city of College Station. This university ranks 3rd out of 115 schools for overall quality in the state of Texas.

There were roughly 83 materials engineering students who graduated with this degree at Texas A&M College Station in the most recent year we have data available.

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

Honorable Mentions

Here are some additional great schools for Materials Engineering students that almost earned our Best Materials Engineering Schools award.

Rank College Location
14 University of Virginia - Main Campus Charlottesville, VA
15 Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD
16 University of Dayton Dayton, OH
17 Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA
18 Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO
19 Ohio State University - Main Campus Columbus, OH
20 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT
21 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH
22 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA

Materials Engineering by Region

View the Best Materials 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

View All Rankings >

One of 41 majors within the Engineering area of study, Materials Engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.

Materials Engineering Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Materials Engineering 3,415

View All Materials Engineering Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to Materials Engineering

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 Materials Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options