2024 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region

Ranked #29 in popularity, mechanical engineering is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 37 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,124 master's degrees in mechanical engineering during the 2020-2021 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering School for Your Master's Degree

The me master's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality me program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to mechanical engineering students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other mechanical engineering students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt mechanical engineering students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized mechanical engineering related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for mechanical engineering students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The me 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 Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Mechanical Engineering in the Southeast Region

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering.

10 Top Southeast Region Schools for a Master's in ME

1

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus
Atlanta, GA

223 Annual Graduates

$85,001 Median Starting Salary

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus is a great choice for individuals pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the large city of Atlanta, Georgia Tech is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Those mechanical engineering students who get their master's degree from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus receive $3,755 more than the average me student.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

2

Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

7 Annual Graduates

Vanderbilt University is a good decision for individuals pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Vanderbilt is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Nashville.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University

3

Duke University
Durham, NC

34 Annual Graduates

Any student who is interested in a master's degree in mechanical engineering needs to look into Duke University. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Duke University

4

University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

138 Annual Graduates

$79,279 Median Starting Salary

University of Florida is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Master's graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn around $79,279 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from University of Florida

5

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC

95 Annual Graduates

$90,892 Median Starting Salary

NC State is a fairly large public university located in the city of Raleigh.

Those mechanical engineering students who get their master's degree from North Carolina State University earn $9,646 more than the average me grad.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University

6

Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA

59 Annual Graduates

$80,460 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public school with a very large student population.

Soon after graduation, me master's recipients typically earn about $80,460 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech

7

Clemson University
Clemson, SC

85 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Clemson, Clemson is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Clemson University

8

Auburn University
Auburn, AL

25 Annual Graduates

Auburn is a very large public university located in the small city of Auburn.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Auburn University

9

The University of Tennessee - Knoxville
Knoxville, TN

23 Annual Graduates

Located in the midsize city of Knoxville, UT Knoxville is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from The University of Tennessee - Knoxville

10

Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS

24 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Mississippi State, Mississippi State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in mechanical engineering from Mississippi State University

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best mechanical engineering schools for a specific state in the Southeast Region .

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Florida	208	329
Georgia	190	251
Virginia	182	59
North Carolina	178	157
Tennessee	166	43
Alabama	151	73
Kentucky	147	49
Louisiana	147	6
South Carolina	146	102
Mississippi	145	24
Arkansas	121	6
West Virginia	112	25

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to ME

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

ME Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Mechanical Engineering	1,124

Most Popular Majors Related to ME

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering	1,341
Civil Engineering	825
Computer Engineering	623
General Engineering	560
Industrial Engineering	463
Biomedical Engineering	448
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	420
Systems Engineering	381
Other Engineering	336
Chemical Engineering	194

Notes and References

• 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 Michel Villeneuve. More about our data sources and methodologies.