Best universities for engineering degrees 2024

Find the best colleges for engineering and technology using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings data

October 28 2020
Electrical engineering

Studying engineering is a smart choice for career-minded students, and there are technical universities all over the world offering world-class degrees.

Most students in Europe enrol on a degree for a specific discipline within engineering. Common specialisations include civil engineering, electrical engineering and chemical engineering.

The 2021 subject ranking for engineering and technology from Times Higher Education features 1,098 universities across more than 70 countries.

Best universities by degree subject

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Although the schools at the very top are in the United States and the United Kingdom, universities in Singapore, China and Switzerland perform extremely well and appear high up the rankings.

China is the second most-represented country in the list of the best universities for engineering, ahead of the UK, Germany, Australia and Canada. Only the United States has a higher number of universities present in the ranking.

The ranking uses the same methodology as the THE World University Rankings, but with a higher weighting for innovation and a lower weighting for citations. The full methodology can be found here.

Scroll down for a full list of degrees covered by the ranking and information on what you can do with these degrees.

Best universities worldwide

Best universities in the world
Best universities in the United States
Best universities in the UK
Best universities in Canada
Best universities in Australia
Best universities in Europe
Best universities in Singapore
Best universities in China

Top five universities for engineering degrees

1. Harvard University

The John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences is the newest school at Harvard University, having been established in 2007. Its roots are in the Lawrence Scientific School, which was founded in 1847 and became a school in its own right in 2007.

The school covers a number of teaching areas such as applied mathematics, applied physics, bioengineering, computer science, electrical engineering, environmental science and engineering, and materials science and mechanical engineering.

Alumni of the school have been awarded a Nobel prize, a MacArthur Fellowship Award, a Turing Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among others.

2. University of Oxford

University of Oxford students are admitted for a specific engineering degree, differing from US universities where students can pick from various strands of engineering to study.

For undergraduates, this will be a four-year course in engineering science or, more specifically, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, information engineering or mechanical engineering.

Just under half of all applicants to these courses get through to the interview round, and 15 per cent secure a place on a course.

Many Oxford engineering graduates go on to careers as professional engineers, although some enter business, consultancy or further study.

3. Stanford University

Stanford University’s School of Engineering has been at the cutting edge of new technology and innovation for the past century.

There are nine departments in the school and additional institutes, laboratories and research centres.

Research focuses on 10 of the “most daunting human challenges of the coming decades”. These are: systems design, bioengineering, network security, climate change, robotics, information technology, materials and matter, urban design, affordable accessible healthcare, and computation and data analysis.

Across the nine departments, there are eight interdepartmental undergraduate programmes that students can major in.

What can you do with an engineering degree?

What can you do with an aerospace engineering degree?
What can you do with a chemical engineering degree?
What can you do with a civil engineering degree?
What can you do with an electrical engineering degree?
What can you do with a general engineering degree?
What can you do with a mechanical engineering degree?

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The MIT School of Engineering is one of five schools at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is the largest of the five.

The school has eight academic departments and two interdisciplinary institutes. Departments include aeronautics and astronautics, biological engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear science and engineering, among others.

The school offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses and encourages students at all levels to conduct research.

5. University of California, Berkeley

The College of Engineering is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. It was established in 1931.

Students can choose to pursue a number of different areas, including civil and environmental engineering, mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering, among others.

Notable alumni of the college include Steve Wozniack, the co-founder of Apple, Marc Tarpenning, the co-founder of Tesla, Andrew Ng, co-founder and executive chairman of Coursera, and Peter Norvig, director of research at Google.

Student experience studying engineering

Women in STEM: how can we encourage more women into engineering?
Finding a place at the National University of Singapore
International perspective: from Delhi to Toulouse
Women in STEM: looking forward to equality
Two Indian engineering students explain why they chose the University of Toronto
Life at the world’s best Millennial university
Women in STEM: stories from MIT students
A week in the life of a student in Brazil

Best universities for engineering 2021

Click each institution to view its World University Ranking 2021 profile

Engineering Rank 2021 Engineering Rank 2020 University Country/region
 1   =3  Harvard University United States
 2   5  University of Oxford United Kingdom
 3   =1  Stanford University United States
 4   6  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
 5   14  University of California, Berkeley United States
 6   =3  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
 7   =1  California Institute of Technology United States
 8   7  Princeton University United States
 =9   8  ETH Zurich Switzerland
 =9   13  Peking University China
 11   =9  University of California, Los Angeles United States
 =12   =9  Georgia Institute of Technology United States
 =12   12  National University of Singapore Singapore
 14   11  Imperial College London United Kingdom
 15   15  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
 16   18  Tsinghua University China
 17   20  Yale University United States
 18   16  Carnegie Mellon University United States
 19   17  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
 20   19  École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
 21   21  Delft University of Technology Netherlands
 22   22  University of Texas at Austin United States
 23   23  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
 24   25  Technical University of Munich Germany
 25   26  Cornell University United States
 26   24  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
 27   32  Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) South Korea
 28   27  University of Toronto Canada
 29   33  Columbia University United States
 30   30  RWTH Aachen University Germany
 31   29  University of Science and Technology of China China
 32   31  The University of Tokyo Japan
 33   35  Purdue University West Lafayette United States
 34   39  Zhejiang University China
 =35   28  University of California, Santa Barbara United States
 =35   41  Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
 37   36  Northwestern University United States
 38   37  University of Pennsylvania United States
 39   40  Seoul National University South Korea
 40   34  University of California, San Diego United States
 41   38  Johns Hopkins University United States
 =42   42  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 =42   46  UCL United Kingdom
 44   44  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
 45   43  University of British Columbia Canada
 =46   =52  University of Manchester United Kingdom
 =46   54  Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) South Korea
 48   59  UNSW Sydney Australia
 49   49  Duke University United States
 50   50  University of Washington United States
 51   =55  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
 52   =52  Rice University United States
 =53   67  Fudan University China
 =53   48  KU Leuven Belgium
 =53   60  Technical University of Berlin Germany
 56   =55  Kyoto University Japan
 57   45  University of Southern California United States
 58   =55  Texas A&M University United States
 59   61  Huazhong University of Science and Technology China
 60   58  Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) South Korea
 61   66  National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
 62   47  McGill University Canada
 63   73  Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
 64   63  City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 65   51  Penn State (Main campus) United States
 66   =86  University of Sydney Australia
 67   75  Nanjing University China
 68   =71  Chalmers University of Technology Sweden
 69   62  KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
 70   69  Technical University of Denmark Denmark
 =71   70  Monash University Australia
 =71   64  Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
 73   =71  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University United States
 74   68  University of Melbourne Australia
 =75   96  Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong
 =75   90  Tohoku University Japan
 77   =77  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
 78   74  Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany
 79   65  New York University United States
 80   83  University of Maryland, College Park United States
 81   101–125  Xi’an Jiaotong University China
 82   89  University of Waterloo Canada
 83   82  Brown University United States
 =84   =84  University of California, Irvine United States
 =84   =86  University of Minnesota United States
 86   79  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
 87   80  University of California, Davis United States
 88   =94  The University of Queensland Australia
 89   101–125  Tongji University China
 90   101–125  National Tsing Hua University Taiwan
 91   98  Korea University South Korea
 92   91  University of Wollongong Australia
 93   =77  Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris France
 =94   99  Indian Institute of Science India
 =94   88  TU Dresden Germany
 96   101–125  Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) South Korea
 97   101–125  Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
 98   101–125  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
 99   =84  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
 100   101–125  University of Adelaide Australia
 101–125   92  Aalborg University Denmark
 101–125   126–150  University of Alberta Canada
 101–125   81  Australian National University Australia
 101–125   126–150  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
 101–125   93  University of Bristol United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  University of California, Riverside United States
 101–125   126–150  Case Western Reserve University United States
 101–125   201–250  Central South University China
 101–125   101–125  University of Colorado Boulder United States
 101–125   101–125  École Polytechnique France
 101–125   =94  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
 101–125   101–125  Harbin Institute of Technology China
 101–125   126–150  University of Leeds United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  University of Luxembourg Luxembourg
 101–125   101–125  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
 101–125   100  Polytechnic University of Milan Italy
 101–125   97  Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
 101–125   101–125  Queen’s University Belfast United Kingdom
 101–125   76  University of Southampton United Kingdom
 101–125   126–150  Southeast University China
 101–125   176–200  Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) China
 101–125   101–125  Technical University of Darmstadt Germany
 101–125   101–125  University of Technology Sydney Australia
 101–125   101–125  The University of Tennessee-Knoxville United States
 101–125   126–150  Tianjin University China
 101–125   126–150  Wuhan University China
 126–150   101–125  Aalto University Finland
 126–150   151–175  University of Auckland New Zealand
 126–150   126–150  Colorado School of Mines United States
 126–150   151–175  University of Delaware United States
 126–150   201–250  East China Normal University China
 126–150   126–150  Ghent University Belgium
 126–150   101–125  University of Groningen Netherlands
 126–150   176–200  Hanyang University South Korea
 126–150   126–150  King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
 126–150   101–125  Lund University Sweden
 126–150   126–150  University of Macau Macao
 126–150   101–125  University of Massachusetts United States
 126–150   126–150  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
 126–150   101–125  North Carolina State University United States
 126–150   NR  Paris-Saclay University  France
 126–150   201–250  Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University Russian Federation
 126–150   176–200  Qatar University Qatar
 126–150   126–150  Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey United States
 126–150   101–125  Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies – Pisa Italy
 126–150   101–125  University of Stuttgart Germany
 126–150   126–150  University of Surrey United Kingdom
 126–150   176–200  Télécom Paris France
 126–150   151–175  Trinity College Dublin Republic of Ireland
 126–150   101–125  University of Warwick United Kingdom
 126–150   126–150  The University of Western Australia Australia
 151–175   501–600  Bauman Moscow State Technical University Russian Federation
 151–175   201–250  Beijing Institute of Technology China
 151–175   201–250  Beijing Normal University China
 151–175   126–150  Boston University United States
 151–175   151–175  Cardiff University United Kingdom
 151–175   151–175  Curtin University Australia
 151–175   176–200  Deakin University Australia
 151–175   151–175  Drexel University United States
 151–175   151–175  Edith Cowan University Australia
 151–175   176–200  Griffith University Australia
 151–175   NR  Lancaster University United Kingdom
 151–175   151–175  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
 151–175   126–150  University of Malaya Malaysia
 151–175   101–125  Michigan State University United States
 151–175   151–175  Nankai University China
 151–175   151–175  Northeastern University United States
 151–175   151–175  Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway
 151–175   126–150  University of Notre Dame United States
 151–175   151–175  Queensland University of Technology Australia
 151–175   151–175  Ruhr University Bochum Germany
 151–175   176–200  Soochow University China
 151–175   201–250  South China University of Technology China
 151–175   NR  University of Sussex United Kingdom
 151–175   176–200  University of Twente Netherlands
 151–175   151–175  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
 176–200   176–200  University of Bath United Kingdom
 176–200   201–250  Brunel University London United Kingdom
 176–200   151–175  University at Buffalo United States
 176–200   151–175  Dartmouth College United States
 176–200   176–200  University of Florida United States
 176–200   NR  Illinois Institute of Technology United States
 176–200   176–200  Khalifa University United Arab Emirates
 176–200   201–250  Kyung Hee University South Korea
 176–200   126–150  Linköping University Sweden
 176–200   201–250  Missouri University of Science and Technology United States
 176–200   151–175  Nagoya University Japan
 176–200   201–250  Newcastle University United Kingdom
 176–200   201–250  Osaka University Japan
 176–200   151–175  University of Oulu Finland
 176–200   176–200  Polytechnic University of Turin Italy
 176–200   126–150  Pompeu Fabra University Spain
 176–200   176–200  RMIT University Australia
 176–200   251–300  Sejong University South Korea
 176–200   176–200  Sorbonne University France
 176–200   176–200  Swinburne University of Technology Australia
 176–200   176–200  University of Texas at Dallas United States
 176–200   126–150  TU Wien Austria
 176–200   151–175  University College Dublin Republic of Ireland
 176–200   126–150  Vanderbilt University United States
 176–200   151–175  Victoria University Australia

Click here to view the full ranking for engineering degrees

Read more: The most detailed subject guide you will ever see to help you pick your degree

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