Best Engineering Degree Programs

Working toward a career in engineering starts with your graduate-level education. When you are looking for the best schools to assist with your long-term career goals, you want to focus on universities and colleges that offer focused degree programs to advance your skills and knowledge. By examining the top five schools, you can make decisions about your investment in your education.

Johns Hopkins University

Location: Baltimore, MD

Johns Hopkins University is well-known for producing Nobel laureates in their academic fields. The school offers several graduate degrees in engineering specializations through fully online and hybrid programs. The engineering studies available through the university include applied biomedical engineering, civil engineering, and information systems engineering.

Since the school offers three primary specializations for engineering majors at the graduate level, students should expect some variation in their education and courses. A student in applied medical engineering studies topics related to medical imaging, translational tissue engineering, and biomedical engineering innovation. The goal of the coursework is to teach students to apply their mathematics, computer, and machine development skills to the medical industry.

Students in the civil engineering major focus on more mechanical and traditional engineering studies. The courses focus on mathematical methods for engineering, geotechnical principles, and structural mechanics. The area of study allows students to advance in the private sector, while developing their engineering skills.

The tuition cost of education at Johns Hopkins University is $1,791 per credit hour. Students must complete 30 credit hours for their degree, and they are expected to maintain a 3.0 grade point average, or higher, during their studies. Students must submit their GRE test scores to qualify for the degree program.

Harvard University

Location: Cambridge, MA

Harvard University is known for academic excellence and high standards among the students. Among the university’s alumni, 48 are Nobel laureates and 32 are heads of state. When students plan to study software engineering, Harvard University offers a 12-course program for them to reach their personal and career objectives.

The degree program focuses on the standards set for software engineers. Students are required to finish a course in theoretical foundations and computer system programming before they qualify to advance in software engineering courses for their degree. The prerequisite courses are counted towards the 12-course program and set the foundation for student education.

During the degree program, students advance in their skills by taking classes in cloud computing, data communication, software design, and related programming courses. These courses prepare students for the challenges of working in the private sector as software engineers or in government positions related to their field of study. Students also have the opportunity to enhance career opportunities by choosing elective courses in cybersecurity, web technologies, and data science. The elective courses result in certification in a specialized field, enhancing student knowledge and skills for their career objectives.

The tuition costs for education at Harvard University is the same, regardless of whether students take courses online or opt to attend classes on campus at the Boston or Cambridge locations. It costs $2,750 per course, and students are required to take 12 courses to complete the graduate software engineering degree program. Students must also complete the prerequisite standards by developing experience with Java or C++ programming. Students must further maintain a 3.0 grade point average during their studies.

Columbia University

Location: New York, NY

Columbia University is an Ivy League university with an expansive and growing student body. When you plan to obtain a master degree in an engineering major, the university offers three options for your career objectives. Students can study civil engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical engineering. The three majors offer different courses and areas of specialization to prepare students for their career in specific industries.

The civil engineering major at Columbia University is a flexible field of study that allows students to concentrate in their preferred area of engineering and mechanics. Students can concentrate on hydrogeology, construction engineering, or continuum mechanics. By concentrating on a specific area of civil engineering, the school helps prepare students for careers in specialized fields. The program starts with core classes in element analysis, the theory of vibrations, and elastic analysis of a structure. After completing this core education, students choose their area of specialization for more advanced studies.

Biomedical engineering focuses on applied principles in medicine and biology. The coursework prepares engineers for the challenges of working in the medical industry and innovating tools for advances in medicine or medical care. The focus on biomechanics, computational modeling, and quantitative physiology, as well as mathematics, gives students the knowledge they need to understand and innovate tools used in medicine and related industries.

Columbia University’s chemical engineering degree program focuses on chemical materials and the production of chemicals. Students focus on mathematical methods associated with chemical production and transportation phenomena as they relate to chemicals. After finishing the core studies associated with mathematics and material production, students take elective courses to specialize in a specific area of chemical engineering and to complete a master’s thesis.

Columbia University sets the same tuition costs for on-campus and online students. A student must pay a tuition of $2,018 per credit and complete 30 credits for their master degree in engineering. The school requires a copy of a student’s GRE test scores before accepting students into the program, and all engineering students must have maintained a 3.0 grade point average, or higher, during their undergraduate studies in order to qualify for the degree program.

North Carolina State University at Raleigh

Location: Raleigh, NC

North Carolina State University offers 16 engineering degrees and certifications through an online program, so students have a variety of options for their degree and continuing education goals. The degree programs offer full-time and part-time enrollment options to allow students to continue with their current career and work responsibilities, while obtaining a degree. While the school offers a variety of engineering programs, it is well-known for civil engineering, aerospace engineering, and environmental engineering majors.

Civil engineering courses at North Carolina State University focus on traditional engineering studies. After students complete their foundational studies in mathematics, they can concentrate on specialized fields associated with engineering. Students can study transportation systems, geotechnical engineering, and construction engineering to advance in their career goals.

When students study aerospace engineering, they prepare for a career in the aerospace industry. The advanced studies in the program focus on heat transfer theory and the applications of the theory in engineering. They also focus on engineering thermodynamics and engineering design optimization. By teaching students the theories and their applications in aerospace, the program offers specialized skills for long-term career objectives.

The environmental engineering program from the university focuses on challenges in the environment. It strives to find solutions to air pollution, water quality, and proper waste management. The degree program recognizes the problems associated with poor environmental maintenance and focuses on studies that assist with resolving problems in the environment. Students learn about water resource engineering, air quality engineering, and environmental risk analysis as part of their education.

North Carolina State University requires students to maintain a 3.0 grade point average and complete appropriate prerequisite courses based on a student’s specific engineering specialization. Students must also provide a GRE test score, or obtain a GRE waiver, if they qualify. The tuition costs are $504 per credit hour for in-state students, and $1,312 per credit hour for out-of-state students. You must complete 30 credits to finish your master degree in engineering.

University of Washington

Locations: Bothell, WA; Seattle, WA; and Tacoma, WA

Students can attend classes at any of the campuses, or take classes online, for their master degree in engineering. The public university has three programs for engineering students. You can take mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, or civil engineering at the graduate level.

The mechanical engineering course is a 42-credit program. Students learn about mechanical engineering analysis, computational techniques as they apply to mechanical engineering, and computational fluid dynamics. The program requires students to have an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering.

Aerospace engineering is a 45-credit hour program. The degree program allows students to concentrate in four different fields of study. Students can focus on composites, fluids, structures, or controls. This specialization allows students to gain a competitive edge in their careers by having an expansive knowledge of their area of study. The degree program requires students to study aerospace analytical methods and take core classes related to their concentration before moving into more advanced studies.

The civil engineering degree is a 42-credit hour program. Students study construction engineering and energy infrastructure before moving forward with specialized skills. The civil engineering degree breaks down into two concentrations: research-intensive academics and career advancement. The research-intensive academic course focuses on preparing students for a doctoral degree. Students who plan to apply their civil engineering degree to a work environment obtain a degree in the career advancement track.

The University of Washington requires students to maintain a 3.0 grade point average, as well as to complete appropriate engineering undergraduate degree before starting the graduate degree program. The tuition is $730 per credit, but the exact cost depends on the specific engineering major. The degree program requires 38 to 45 credits to complete.