2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major
1,203
Ranked Colleges
198,468
Degrees Awarded
$35,800
Avg Cost*
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Well Attended Engineering Major” ranking is part of that endeavor.
Engineering is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 7th of all the majors we analyze. In 2020-2021, 198,468 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2019-2020, engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,653 and had an average of $23,855 in loans still to pay off.
This year’s “Most Well Attended Engineering Major” ranking analyzed 1,203 colleges that offered a degree in engineering. To top this list, a school must have a successful engineering program that graduates more students in the field than other colleges that offer the same major.
Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
More Ways to Rank Engineering Schools
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 “Most Well Attended Engineering Major” list to help you make the college decision.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Most Well Attended Engineering Major
The colleges and universities below are the best for engineering students.
Top 25 Most Popular Colleges for Engineering
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major list. Atlanta, Georgia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 3,407 students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Purdue University - Main Campus. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major list. West Lafayette, Indiana is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 3,177 students in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.
Read full report on Engineering at Purdue University - Main Campus
Out of the 1,203 schools in the Most Well Attended Engineering Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #3 spot on the list. College Station, Texas is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 3,306 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Texas A&M University - College Station Engineering Report
Out of the 1,203 schools in the Most Well Attended Engineering Major that were part of this year’s ranking, Northeastern University landed the #4 spot on the list. Northeastern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Boston, Massachusetts. It awarded 2,819 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Northeastern Engineering Report
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Michigan - Ann Arbor. The school came in at #5 for the Most Well Attended Engineering Major. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor is a public institution located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The school has a large population, and it awarded 2,789 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Engineering at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #6. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 2,695 students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
North Carolina State University ranked #7 on this year’s Most Well Attended Engineering Major list. North Carolina State University is located in Raleigh, North Carolina and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 2,631 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
Full North Carolina State University Engineering Report
Arizona State University - Tempe did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #8. Arizona State University - Tempe is a public institution located in Tempe, Arizona. The school has a large population, and it awarded 2,566 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Arizona State University - Tempe Engineering Report
Ohio State University - Main Campus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking. Ohio State is a large public school situated in Columbus, Ohio. It awarded 2,359 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.
Full Ohio State University - Main Campus Engineering Report
Virginia Tech ranked #10 on this year’s Most Well Attended Engineering Major list. This large school is located in Blacksburg, Virginia, and it awarded 2,227 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%.
Read more about Engineering at Virginia Tech
University of Florida did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #11. University of Florida is a large public school situated in Gainesville, Florida. It awarded 2,403 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Engineering at University of Florida
University of California - San Diego came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking. Located in La Jolla, California, this large public school handed out 2,047 degrees to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Engineering at University of California - San Diego
University of California - Berkeley did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #13. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 1,982 students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Engineering at University of California - Berkeley
Iowa State University landed the #14 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking. Located in Ames, Iowa, this large public school handed out 1,913 degrees to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Engineering at Iowa State
The University of Texas at Austin did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #15. The University of Texas at Austin is located in Austin, Texas and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,960 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full The University of Texas at Austin Engineering Report
San Jose State University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #16. San Jose, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 1,943 students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full San Jose State University Engineering Report
University of Southern California came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking. This large school is located in Los Angeles, California, and it awarded 1,815 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 91%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read more about Engineering at USC
University of Maryland - College Park landed the #18 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking. University of Maryland - College Park is a large school located in College Park, Maryland that handed out 1,797 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Engineering at UMCP
University of Central Florida did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #19. Located in Orlando, Florida, this large public school awarded 1,628 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 92%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read more about Engineering at University of Central Florida
University of Washington - Seattle Campus did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #20. UW Seattle is a public institution located in Seattle, Washington. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,594 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Engineering at UW Seattle
Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #21. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this fairly large private not-for-profit school awarded 1,592 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Full Carnegie Mellon Engineering Report
With a ranking of #22, University of Colorado Boulder did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major list. CU - Boulder is located in Boulder, Colorado and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 1,493 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Engineering at University of Colorado Boulder
University of Wisconsin - Madison landed the #22 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking. UW - Madison is a public institution located in Madison, Wisconsin. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,573 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Engineering at University of Wisconsin - Madison
Clemson University did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking, coming in at #24. Clemson University is a large school located in Clemson, South Carolina that handed out 1,525 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Engineering at Clemson University
University at Buffalo came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major ranking. University at Buffalo is a public institution located in Buffalo, New York. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1,490 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.
Full University at Buffalo Engineering Report
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