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2024 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania

16 Colleges in Pennsylvania
2,232 ME Degrees Awarded
$71,068 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #21 in popularity, mechanical engineering is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 16 schools in Pennsylvania to determine which ones were the best for mechanical engineering students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 2,232 degrees in mechanical engineering to qualified students.

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

Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering School

Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania Your choice of mechanical 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 mechanical engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each 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.

Mechanical Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

Bachelor's Degrees in ME
Master's Degrees in ME
Doctor's Degrees in ME

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list to help you make the college 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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Mechanical Engineering in Pennsylvania

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 me degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Pennsylvania Schools in ME

1
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
147 ME Degrees Awarded
18.4% Growth in Graduates

University of Pennsylvania is a good decision for students pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. UPenn is a fairly 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 roughly 147 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year. Those mechanical engineering students who get their degree from University of Pennsylvania make $7,098 more than the average me grad.

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

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
298 ME Degrees Awarded
$76,539 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in mechanical engineering has to look into Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Carnegie Mellon is a great university overall.

There were about 298 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Carnegie Mellon in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at Carnegie Mellon University make $5,471 more than the standard college graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
236 ME Degrees Awarded
$76,770 Median Starting Salary

Any student who is interested in mechanical engineering needs to look into University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus. Pitt is a fairly large public university located in the city of Pittsburgh. A Best Colleges rank of #79 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Pitt is a great university overall.

There were about 236 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Pitt in the most recent data year. Those mechanical engineering students who get their degree from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus receive $5,702 more than the standard me graduate.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus

4
Villanova crest
Villanova University
Villanova, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
89 ME Degrees Awarded
4.5% Growth in Graduates

It is difficult to beat Villanova University if you want to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Villanova is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Villanova. A Best Colleges rank of #70 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Villanova is a great university overall.

There were roughly 89 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Villanova in the most recent data year. Those mechanical engineering students who get their degree from Villanova University receive $13,226 more than the typical me grad.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University

5
Lehigh crest
Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
130 ME Degrees Awarded
$73,466 Median Starting Salary

Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bethlehem. A Best Colleges rank of #71 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Lehigh is a great university overall.

There were roughly 130 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Lehigh in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the mechanical engineering program at Lehigh University earn $2,398 above the typical college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Lehigh University

6
Drexel crest
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
200 ME Degrees Awarded
$76,490 Median Starting Salary

Drexel is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Philadelphia. A Best Colleges rank of #125 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Drexel is a great university overall.

There were about 200 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Drexel in the most recent data year. Those mechanical engineering students who get their degree from Drexel University earn $5,422 more than the standard me graduate.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Drexel University

7
Bucknell crest
Bucknell University
Lewisburg, PA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
38 ME Degrees Awarded
$68,748 Median Starting Salary

Bucknell is a small private not-for-profit university located in the town of Lewisburg. A Best Colleges rank of #66 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Bucknell is a great university overall.

There were roughly 38 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Bucknell in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, me degree recipients generally earn around $68,748 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Bucknell University

8
Lafayette crest
Lafayette College
Easton, PA
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
60 ME Degrees Awarded
5.0% Growth in Graduates

Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #96 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Lafayette is a great college overall.

There were approximately 60 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Lafayette in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the me program make about $67,784 for their early career.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Lafayette College

9
Temple crest
Temple University
Philadelphia, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
110 ME Degrees Awarded
$61,636 Median Starting Salary

Temple is a fairly large public university located in the city of Philadelphia. This university ranks 11th out of 109 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were about 110 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Temple in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, me degree recipients typically make around $61,636 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Temple University

10
Widener crest
Widener University
Chester, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
40 ME Degrees Awarded
$64,959 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Chester, Widener is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. This university ranks 17th out of 109 colleges for overall quality in the state of Pennsylvania.

There were roughly 40 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Widener in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program state that they receive average early career income of $64,959.

More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Widener University

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
New York 333 2,830
Maryland 279 796
New Jersey 273 925
District of Columbia 188 176
Delaware 175 135

View All Rankings >

Mechanical Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

ME Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Mechanical Engineering 2,232

View All ME Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to ME

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 1,590
Civil Engineering 1,000
Chemical Engineering 836
Computer Engineering 812
Biomedical Engineering 780
General Engineering 493
Industrial Engineering 467
Other Engineering 303
Materials Engineering 235
Robotics Engineering 230

View All ME Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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