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Best universities for engineering degrees 2024

Find the best colleges for engineering and technology using Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2024 data

    October 26 2023
    Electrical engineering

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    Top 10 universities in the world for engineering 2024

    Scroll down for the full list of best universities in the world for engineering

    Engineering rank 2024  Engineering rank 2023  University Country/region
     1   1  Harvard University United States
     2   2  Stanford University United States
     3   4  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
     4   5  University of Oxford United Kingdom
     5   7  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
     6   3  University of California, Berkeley United States
     7   6  California Institute of Technology United States
     8   9  Princeton University United States
     9   8  National University of Singapore Singapore
     10   14  Imperial College London United Kingdom

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

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

    Times Higher Education’s 2024 subject ranking for engineering and technology features 1,374 universities across more than 70 countries.

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    Although the schools at the very top are in the United States and United Kingdom, universities in Singapore, China and Switzerland perform very well and appear high in 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 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 in Australia for engineering degrees
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    Best universities for engineering degrees in the UK
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    Top 5 universities for engineering degrees

    5. University of Cambridge

    The University of Cambridge’s undergraduate engineering course is four years long.

    The first two years provide a broad engineering education, and the third and fourth years allow students to select modules to specialise further. These include aerospace and aerothermal engineering; bioengineering; civil, structural and environmental engineering; electrical and electronic engineering; and energy, sustainability and the environment.

    There are six postgraduate programmes in engineering that can be taken as a taught course or as research study.

    4. University of Oxford

    The University of Oxford offers undergraduates a four-year degree in engineering science, where they can specialise from their third year in one of six branches of engineering: biomedical, chemical, civil, electrical, information or mechanical.

    Just under half of all applicants to this course 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. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

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

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

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

    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?

    2. Stanford University

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

    It has nine departments, as well as a number of institutes, laboratories and research centres.

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

    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.

    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.

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    Best universities for engineering 2024

    Click each institution to view its World University Ranking 2024 profile.

    Engineering rank 2024  Engineering rank 2023  University Country/region
     1   1  Harvard University United States
     2   2  Stanford University United States
     3   4  Massachusetts Institute of Technology United States
     4   5  University of Oxford United Kingdom
     5   7  University of Cambridge United Kingdom
     6   3  University of California, Berkeley United States
     7   6  California Institute of Technology United States
     8   9  Princeton University United States
     9   8  National University of Singapore Singapore
     10   14  Imperial College London United Kingdom
     11   10  ETH Zurich Switzerland
     12   11  Georgia Institute of Technology United States
     13   13  Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Singapore
     14   12  Peking University China
     15   15  Tsinghua University China
     16   21  Delft University of Technology Netherlands
     17   16  University of California, Los Angeles United States
     18   17  Yale University United States
     19   18  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor United States
     20   19  École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Switzerland
     21   22  Carnegie Mellon University United States
     22   20  Technical University of Munich Germany
     23   29  Shanghai Jiao Tong University China
     24   28  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
     25   25  Columbia University United States
     26   27  University of Toronto Canada
     27   24  Cornell University United States
     28   23  University of Texas at Austin United States
     29   34  The University of Tokyo Japan
     30   =30  Zhejiang University China
     31   =30  Northwestern University United States
     32   38  Purdue University West Lafayette United States
     33   26  The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong
     34   32  RWTH Aachen University Germany
     35   35  Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) South Korea
     36   36  University of Pennsylvania United States
     37   33  Johns Hopkins University United States
     38   40  Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hong Kong
     39   53  KTH Royal Institute of Technology Sweden
     40   41  Seoul National University South Korea
     41   37  University of California, San Diego United States
     42   =48  University of Manchester United Kingdom
     43   42  University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
     44   39  University of Science and Technology of China China
     45   45  UCL United Kingdom
     46   43  University of California, Santa Barbara United States
     47   68  Kyoto University Japan
     48   59  Technical University of Denmark Denmark
     49   =48  University of British Columbia Canada
     50   47  University of Washington United States
     51   79  Harbin Institute of Technology China
     52   46  City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
     53   50  KU Leuven Belgium
     =54   44  Monash University Australia
     =54   =60  Texas A&M University United States
     =56   51  Fudan University China
     =56   65  Tongji University China
     58   54  The University of Queensland Australia
     59   80  Tohoku University Japan
     60   58  Yonsei University (Seoul campus) South Korea
     61   52  Duke University United States
     62   =74  Politecnico di Milano Italy
     63   =55  Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) South Korea
     =64   64  Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Germany
     =64   92  Tokyo Institute of Technology Japan
     =64   =55  UNSW Sydney Australia
     67   71  Nanjing University China
     68   =60  University of Sydney Australia
     =69   67  University of Melbourne Australia
     =69   =69  University of Waterloo Canada
     71   =76  McGill University Canada
     72   =85  Paris Sciences et Lettres – PSL Research University Paris France
     =73   63  Chinese University of Hong Kong Hong Kong
     =73   =83  University of Wisconsin-Madison United States
     75   62  Technical University of Berlin Germany
     =76   66  Sichuan University China
     =76   =72  Southeast University China
     78   =88  Xi’an Jiaotong University China
     79   =76  Huazhong University of Science and Technology China
     80   =88  Chalmers University of Technology Sweden
     81   99  Tianjin University China
     82   =72  Rice University United States
     83   =93  University of Edinburgh United Kingdom
     =84   81  Eindhoven University of Technology Netherlands
     =84   91  Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU) South Korea
     86   82  Penn State (Main campus) United States
     87   =74  Brown University United States
     =88   =85  University of California, Davis United States
     =88   126–150  University of Massachusetts United States
     =90   =83  Aalborg University Denmark
     =90   101–125  University of Alberta Canada
     =92   98  National Taiwan University (NTU) Taiwan
     =92   78  Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University United States
     94   100  University of Sheffield United Kingdom
     95   =69  University of Southern California United States
     96   101–125  University of Bristol United Kingdom
     97   101–125  University of Southampton United Kingdom
     98   101–125  University of Nottingham United Kingdom
     99   101–125  Institut Polytechnique de Paris France
     100   126–150  University of Birmingham United Kingdom
     101–125   101–125  Aalto University Finland
     101–125   87  University of Adelaide Australia
     101–125   126–150  Australian National University Australia
     101–125   151–175  Beijing Institute of Technology China
     101–125   =93  University of California, Irvine United States
     101–125   126–150  University of Colorado Boulder United States
     101–125   101–125  Indian Institute of Science India
     101–125   57  King Abdulaziz University Saudi Arabia
     101–125   101–125  King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Saudi Arabia
     101–125   101–125  Korea University South Korea
     101–125   101–125  University of Leeds United Kingdom
     101–125   101–125  University of Maryland, College Park United States
     101–125   95  University of Minnesota United States
     101–125   101–125  New York University United States
     101–125   101–125  North Carolina State University United States
     101–125   101–125  Norwegian University of Science and Technology Norway
     101–125   =88  Ohio State University (Main campus) United States
     101–125   101–125  Université Paris-Saclay France
     101–125   101–125  University of Stuttgart Germany
     101–125   101–125  University of Technology Sydney Australia
     101–125   101–125  TU Dresden Germany
     101–125   97  Wageningen University & Research Netherlands
     101–125   96  University of Wollongong Australia
     101–125   101–125  Wuhan University China
     126–150   126–150  Arizona State University (Tempe) United States
     126–150   126–150  University of Auckland New Zealand
     126–150   176–200  Beihang University China
     126–150   126–150  Curtin University Australia
     126–150   151–175  Deakin University Australia
     126–150   101–125  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany
     126–150   126–150  Ghent University Belgium
     126–150   151–175  University of Groningen Netherlands
     126–150   126–150  Hanyang University South Korea
     126–150   176–200  Kyushu University Japan
     126–150   151–175  Lund University Sweden
     126–150   126–150  University of Macau Macao
     126–150   101–125  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill United States
     126–150   201–250  Northwestern Polytechnical University China
     126–150   201–250  Osaka University Japan
     126–150   101–125  Qatar University Qatar
     126–150   126–150  Queen Mary University of London United Kingdom
     126–150   126–150  RMIT University Australia
     126–150   151–175  Sharif University of Technology Iran
     126–150   126–150  University of Surrey United Kingdom
     126–150   151–175  Technical University of Darmstadt Germany
     126–150   101–125  The University of Tennessee-Knoxville United States
     126–150   176–200  TU Wien Austria
     126–150   201–250  University of Twente Netherlands
     126–150   101–125  Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) South Korea
     126–150   126–150  The University of Western Australia Australia
     151–175   251–300  University of Arizona United States
     151–175   126–150  Boston University United States
     151–175   126–150  University of California, Riverside United States
     151–175   151–175  Cardiff University United Kingdom
     151–175   176–200  Chongqing University China
     151–175   151–175  University of Delaware United States
     151–175   NR  East China Normal University China
     151–175   201–250  University of Florida United States
     151–175   201–250  University of Glasgow United Kingdom
     151–175   151–175  Hunan University China
     151–175   126–150  Linköping University Sweden
     151–175   151–175  University of Liverpool United Kingdom
     151–175   126–150  University of Luxembourg Luxembourg
     151–175   176–200  Macquarie University Australia
     151–175   176–200  Nankai University China
     151–175   126–150  National Tsing Hua University Taiwan
     151–175   151–175  Northeastern University, US United States
     151–175   151–175  University of Notre Dame United States
     151–175   201–250  Polytechnic University of Turin Italy
     151–175   126–150  Queen’s University Belfast United Kingdom
     151–175   151–175  Queensland University of Technology Australia
     151–175   201–250  Sapienza University of Rome Italy
     151–175   201–250  Sorbonne University France
     151–175   151–175  South China University of Technology China
     151–175   176–200  University College Dublin Ireland
     151–175   201–250  University of Warwick United Kingdom
     176–200   176–200  Aarhus University Denmark
     176–200   201–250  University of Calgary Canada
     176–200   151–175  Case Western Reserve University United States
     176–200   151–175  Drexel University United States
     176–200   176–200  University of Electronic Science and Technology of China China
     176–200   151–175  University of Freiburg Germany
     176–200   251–300  Heriot-Watt University United Kingdom
     176–200   151–175  Khalifa University United Arab Emirates
     176–200   176–200  Kyung Hee University South Korea
     176–200   176–200  Lancaster University United Kingdom
     176–200   176–200  University of Malaya Malaysia
     176–200   201–250  McMaster University Canada
     176–200   176–200  Michigan State University United States
     176–200   251–300  University of Montreal Canada
     176–200   251–300  Nagoya University Japan
     176–200   176–200  Newcastle University United Kingdom
     176–200   201–250  University of Padua Italy
     176–200   151–175  Sejong University South Korea
     176–200   126–150  Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) China
     176–200   151–175  Swinburne University of Technology Australia
     176–200   201–250  Trinity College Dublin Ireland
     176–200   176–200  Vanderbilt University United States
     176–200   176–200  Western University Canada

    Editor’s note: As part of our THE statement on Ukraine published on 2 March 2022, Russian universities have been given less prominence in our rankings. Russian universities that met the criteria for this ranking are not displayed in the table above.

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