UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the 2023 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Engineering Programs rankings released March 29, engineering at Penn State University Park ranked No. 32 overall, advancing one place from last year’s report, and No. 18 among public institutions. Seven engineering specialty disciplines offered by the College of Engineering also climbed in the rankings, and eight are now ranked in the top 20 nationally.
“Engineering at Penn State continues to rise in the national rankings, which are tabulated based on several factors, including research expenditures and our reputation among peer institutions and industry partners,” said Justin Schwartz, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean in the College of Engineering. “We are especially proud to achieve such high graduate rankings while also boasting one of the largest undergraduate student populations of the other top-ranked universities. This year’s results demonstrate the continued commitment every faculty member, staff and student have to both their individual success and the collective achievements of their department, our college and our land-grant University.”
U.S. News surveyed 214 engineering schools that grant doctoral degrees, collecting assessments on each from faculty leadership from other programs and from corporate recruiters, employers and company contacts. The assessments account for 40% of each school’s score, with the other 60% comprising faculty resources, student-to-faculty ratios, percentage of faculty who belong to the National Academy of Engineering, total research expenditures, average research expenditures per faculty member and student selectivity.
“Engineering at Penn State has a high job placement rate for both undergraduate and graduate students, research expenditures of $153 million and a student body that is actively engaged in real-world issues,” said George Lesieutre, associate dean for research and graduate programs. “Our rankings reflect the quality of our graduate students, the importance of the research problems they take on, the support and mentoring our world-class faculty members provide and the impressive impacts they make.”
Electrical engineering ranked No. 25, advancing six spots; biomedical engineering ranked No. 34, advancing four spots; and civil engineering ranked No. 17, advancing three spots.
The following specialty disciplines rose one spot in the national rankings: industrial engineering, ranked No. 10; nuclear engineering, ranked No. 9; mechanical engineering, ranked No. 14; and environmental engineering, ranked No. 21.
The following specialty disciplines all maintained their 2022 spots in the top 20: Aerospace engineering ranked No. 15; agricultural engineering ranked No. 11; and materials engineering ranked No. 11. Agricultural engineering is overseen in partnership with the College of Agricultural Sciences, while materials engineering is in collaboration with the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
The U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Engineering Programs rankings are designed to help prospective students to evaluate and compare programs. A summary of all engineering rankings is available online.
Learn more about the Penn State College of Engineering graduate programs here.