College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2025 Best Systems Engineering Schools

45 Colleges in the United States
3,802 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
$102,528 Avg Early-Career Salary
Systems Engineering isn't the most popular major in the world, but it's not the least popular either. To be more precise it ranks #160 in popularity out of 395 majors in the country. So, you may have to do some digging around to find quality schools that offer the degree program. This list can help with that.

For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 45 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for systems engineering students pursuing a degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 3,802 degrees in systems engineering during the 2021-2022 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Systems Engineering School

Best Systems Engineering Schools Your choice of systems 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 systems 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.

Systems Engineering Rankings by Degree Level

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

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 Systems Engineering Schools list to help you make the college decision. More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Read more about College Factual's methodology.

Best Schools for Systems Engineering in the United States

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 systems engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Schools in Systems Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
219 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
5.0% Growth in Graduates

It's difficult to beat Massachusetts Institute of Technology if you wish to pursue a degree in systems engineering. Located in the medium-sized 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 colleges nationwide means MIT is a great school overall.

There were about 219 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at MIT in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the systems engineering program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology make $48,743 above the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

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

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
162 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
$135,107 Median Starting Salary

Johns Hopkins University is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in systems engineering. 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 schools nationwide means Johns Hopkins is a great university overall.

There were approximately 162 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at Johns Hopkins in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the systems engineering program at Johns Hopkins University get $32,579 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
138 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
$99,016 Median Starting Salary

University of Virginia - Main Campus is one of the best schools in the country for getting a degree in systems engineering. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #35 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means University of Virginia is a great university overall.

There were about 138 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at University of Virginia in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, systems engineering degree recipients typically earn an average of $99,016 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from University of Virginia - Main Campus

4
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
300 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
5.0% Growth in Graduates

Every student who is interested in systems engineering has to take a look at University of Florida. Located in the city of Gainesville, UF is a public university with a very large student population. This university ranks 1st out of 70 schools for overall quality in the state of Florida.

There were roughly 300 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at UF in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, systems engineering degree recipients generally earn about $90,497 at the beginning of their careers.

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

5
UPenn crest
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
2nd Most Popular In PA
66 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded

Located in the city of Philadelphia, UPenn is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UPenn is a great university overall.

There were roughly 66 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at UPenn in the most recent data year.

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

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
$83,874 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Saint Louis, WUSTL is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #21 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means WUSTL is a great university overall.

There were about 37 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at WUSTL in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduating, systems engineering degree recipients generally make about $83,874 in their early careers.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from Washington University in St Louis

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
46 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
39.1% Growth in Graduates

USC is a very 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 roughly 46 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at USC in the most recent year we have data available. Those systems engineering students who get their degree from University of Southern California receive $15,835 more than the typical systems engineering graduate.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from University of Southern California

8
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
121 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
23.1% Growth in Graduates

Cornell is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Ithaca. A Best Colleges rank of #9 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Cornell is a great university overall.

There were roughly 121 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at Cornell in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the systems engineering degree program at Cornell University make $14,927 above the typical college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from Cornell University

9
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
101 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
23.8% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were about 101 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the systems engineering program state that they receive average early career income of $81,785.

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

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
138 Systems Engineering Degrees Awarded
11.6% Growth in Graduates

GWU is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Washington. A Best Colleges rank of #25 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means GWU is a great university overall.

There were approximately 138 systems engineering students who graduated with this degree at GWU in the most recent year we have data available. Those systems engineering students who get their degree from George Washington University earn $16,730 more than the average systems engineering grad.

More information about a degree in systems engineering from George Washington University

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Systems Engineering Schools award.

Rank College Location
11 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI

Systems Engineering by Region

View the Best Systems 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 >

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

Systems Engineering Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Systems Engineering 3,802

View All Systems Engineering Concentrations >

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 44,794
Electrical Engineering 26,528
Civil Engineering 20,655
Computer Engineering 16,954
Biomedical Engineering 13,222
Chemical Engineering 12,248
General Engineering 11,534
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 8,671
Industrial Engineering 8,087
Materials Engineering 3,476

View All Systems 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