The 50 colleges that score highest for Industrial engineering on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
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| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia University in the City of New York | NY | Median earnings $167,572 · 54 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Cornell University | NY | Median earnings $151,709 · 68 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | Median earnings $128,003 · 343 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | University of California-Berkeley | CA | Median earnings $138,883 · 57 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Median earnings $117,930 · 141 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | Princeton University | NJ | Median earnings $117,748 (field-wide) · 72 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | Northwestern University | IL | Median earnings $138,720 · 65 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | University of Southern California | CA | Median earnings $112,150 · 53 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | Median earnings $110,711 · 105 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | Median earnings $107,031 · 257 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | Rice University | TX | Median earnings $120,189 (field-wide) · 11 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | Northeastern University | MA | Median earnings $111,430 · 80 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | Median earnings $103,143 · 77 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $109,575 · 21 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $106,932 · 114 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $104,758 · 139 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | Median earnings $116,641 · 207 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | Median earnings $95,918 · 274 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | University of Miami | FL | Median earnings $99,068 · 31 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | PA | Median earnings $98,654 · 84 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | NC | Median earnings $100,172 · 92 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Lehigh University | PA | Median earnings $121,498 · 56 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | Auburn University | AL | Median earnings $99,441 · 97 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | Median earnings $94,382 · 40 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | Binghamton University | NY | Median earnings $95,354 · 50 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | Clemson University | SC | Median earnings $92,491 · 161 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | TN | Median earnings $107,093 · 52 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | Florida State University | FL | Median earnings $96,504 · 27 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | MN | Median earnings $92,241 · 58 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | University of South Florida | FL | Median earnings $90,040 · 68 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | Median earnings $102,439 · 65 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | University of Central Florida | FL | Median earnings $91,630 · 110 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | CA | Median earnings $112,797 · 69 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | University of Connecticut | CT | Median earnings $111,672 · 45 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | University of Massachusetts-Amherst | MA | Median earnings $97,791 · 27 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | Rochester Institute of Technology | NY | Median earnings $105,313 · 20 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | University at Buffalo | NY | Median earnings $86,118 · 34 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | NY | Median earnings $98,509 · 19 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJ | Median earnings $101,547 · 21 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | University of Missouri-Columbia | MO | Median earnings $101,380 · 30 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | Oregon State University | OR | Median earnings $101,653 · 40 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | University of Iowa | IA | Median earnings $95,347 · 45 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | United States Naval Academy | MD | Earnings not published · 101 graduates last year · 9% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | Texas Tech University | TX | Median earnings $98,266 · 46 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | United States Military Academy | NY | Earnings not published · 11 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | United States Air Force Academy | CO | Earnings not published · 35 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus | OK | Median earnings $98,394 · 42 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | MA | Median earnings $101,554 · 24 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | University of Houston | TX | Median earnings $94,814 · 30 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Mississippi State University | MS | Median earnings $92,332 · 64 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees |
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