Top 100 Best Engineering Schools in The World [2017 – 2018]
For many careers, a higher education qualification is necessary, and it certainly can help you move forward within your current role. An engineering college or university degree or diploma demonstrates your ability to solve real-world problems and help create positive business results.
Your reason for continuing your college education can be more personal than professional. Strong personal goals are the foundation of anyone’s success, which can be amplified by studying at the university level. The schools ranked below are at the top within Engineering & Technology fields.
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The USA takes the first place in the list of Top 100 Best Engineering Schools in the World, in 2017. Majority of the top 100 spots are captured by American universities. However other countries such as United Kingdom, Singapore, Switzerland, China, Japan, and many others are also featured.
The Engineering and Technology subjects included in these rankings are Computer Science & Information Systems, Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil & Structural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Mineral & Mining Engineering.
The ranking indicators utilized by the QS World University Rankings® (source of this article) for top engineering and technology schools in the world include:
1. Academic Reputation. Since 2004, the QS World University Rankings® has been gathering data from 74,651 academic subjects worldwide; analyzing the massive amount of data collected from surveys and respondents to create an Academic Reputation
2. Employee Reputation. These rankings are unique in integrating employability as a primary factor for evaluating and ranking global Engineering and Technology schools. This year alone 40,643 survey responses were received from such employers worldwide, which were used to create an Employee Reputation score.
3. Citations Per Paper were evaluated, and its data captured to create a score. To do this successfully, a publication limit is defined for every engineering and technology subject to avoid possible flaws arising from small quantities of highly cited publications. Both the lowest publications limit and also the weighting placed on the citations indicator are adapted to be able to create best citation score for each discipline.
4. H-index Citations. The H-Index is used to measure the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or engineer, as well as the richness and impact of a group of engineers in any given university or country.
The rankings below are the based on overall QS Ranking Scores. Click here to read more about their methodology.
The 1st survey results for the best engineering schools:
Top 100 Best Engineering Schools in the World (based on data from QS World University Rankings®)
* Data captured by Times Higher Education. Click here to view their website.
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
* No. of students: 11,192
* International students: 33%
* Female:Male Ratio: 37 : 63
No. of students: 15,658
International students: 22%
Female:Male Ratio: 42 : 58
No. of students: 18,389
International students: 35%
Female:Male Ratio: 45 : 55
4. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU)
No. of students: 18,605
International students: 35%
Female:Male Ratio: 45 : 55
5. ETH Zurich - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
No. of students: 18,616
International students: 37%
Female:Male Ratio: 31 : 69
No. of students: 15,236
International students: 52%
Female:Male Ratio: 37 : 63
7. National University of Singapore (NUS)
No. of students: 31,111
International students: 32%
Female:Male Ratio: 50 : 50
8. University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
No. of students: 34,834
International students: 16%
Female:Male Ratio: 52 : 48
No. of students: 19,718
International students: 35%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
Tip for getting into college: Being to learn about colleges and universities as soon as you can. The sooner you get to narrow down your options, the faster you can focus on a specific location or engineering subject. You must also become fully self-aware; understand what skills you have and which skills you have not. This is one of the basic steps to define your career path. To learn how to create a winning strategy for an engineering career of success, click here.
No. of students: 41,537
International students: 10%
Female:Male Ratio: 32 : 68
No. of students: 26,080
International students: 10%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
12. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
No. of students: 9,750
International students: 54%
Female:Male Ratio: 27 : 73
No. of students: 21,000
International students: n/a
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
14. KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology
No. of students: 9,464
International students: 9%
Female:Male Ratio: 20 : 80
15. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
No. of students: 10,214
International students: 31%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
16. Georgia Institute of Technology
No. of students: 20,773
International students: 27%
Female:Male Ratio: 31 : 69
17. California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
No. of students: 2,209
International students: 27%
Female:Male Ratio: 31 : 69
No. of students: 42,136
International students: 16%
Female:Male Ratio: 47 : 53
19. Tokyo Institute of Technology
No. of students: 9,570
International students: 13%
Female:Male Ratio: 14 : 86
How to get started: January is the perfect time of the year write your goals down and create a list of colleges & universities, so you can determine how to get ahead in your higher education and career. If you haven’t done this yet, here are 3 steps to help you start:
20. Delft University of Technology
No. of students: 17,057
International students: 27%
Female:Male Ratio: 28 : 72
No. of students: 26,470
International students: 11%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
22. Kyoto University
No. of students: 22,481
International students: 8%
Female:Male Ratio: 24 : 76
23. National Taiwan University (NTU)
No. of students: 31,758
International students: 8%
Female:Male Ratio: 40 : 60
No. of students: 42,496
International students: n/a
Female:Male Ratio:n/a
25. Shanghai Jiao Tong University
No. of students: 36,535
International students: 6%
Female:Male Ratio: 41 : 59
26. Technical University of Munich
No. of students: 36,929
International students: 22%
Female:Male Ratio: 33 : 67
No. of students: 20,095
International students: 39%
Female:Male Ratio: 51 : 49
28. The University of Melbourne
No. of students: 42,273
International students: 37%
Female:Male Ratio: 55 : 45
29. KTH Royal Institute of Technology
No. of students: 12,841
International students: 17%
Female:Male Ratio: 31 : 69
Are you evaluating which school to go to? Begin to build your network strategically. Social Networking is about following a step by step plan to Find, Attract and Engage with decision makers in colleges and/or universities. This allows you to learn more about that school, and build relationships that can be useful one day in the near future.
30. University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
No. of students: 38,392
International students: 16%
Female:Male Ratio: 53 : 47
31. Carnegie Mellon University
No. of students: 12,311
International students: 38%
Female:Male Ratio: 38 : 62
32. The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)
No. of students: 40,133
International students: 34%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
No. of students: 43,721
International students: 18%
Female:Male Ratio: 32 : 68
No. of students: 69,427
International students: 17%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
35. Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin)
No. of students: 22,390
International students: 20%
Female:Male Ratio: 34 : 66
No. of students: 21,990
International students: 18%
Female:Male Ratio: 66 : 34
No. of students: 7,955
International students: 24%
Female:Male Ratio: 45 : 55
38. KIT, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
No. of students: 25,824
International students: 18%
Female:Male Ratio: 27 : 73
39. National Tsing Hua University
No. of students: 10,194
International students: 5%
Female:Male Ratio: 33 : 67
Considering an international college or university? Make sure you know everything required prior to filling in an application. Look into the visa application process first. Talk to professionals in this field if you have any concerns. But never give up on your dreams. Continue to follow your heart and don’t ever quit. Regardless of where in the world you are when you’re reading this article, write down your goals and do something every day that can help make your goals come true.
40. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
No. of students: 43,402
International students: 23%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
No. of students: 44,553
International students: 32%
Female:Male Ratio: 57 : 43
No. of students: 50,051
International students: 6%
Female:Male Ratio: 22 : 78
43. Technical University of Denmark
No. of students: 8,548
International students: 24%
Female:Male Ratio: 29 : 71
No. of students: 46,846
International students: 28%
Female:Male Ratio: 57 : 43
45. University of Texas at Austin
No. of students: 48,561
International students: 10%
Female:Male Ratio: 51 : 49
46. The Australian National University
No. of students: 15,986
International students: 35%
Female:Male Ratio: 52 : 48
No. of students: 21,850
International students: 24%
Female:Male Ratio: 49 : 51
48. Fudan University
No. of students: 32,859
International students: 10%
Female:Male Ratio: 51 : 49
No. of students: 41,818
International students: 16%
Female:Male Ratio: 48 : 52
50. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)
No. of students: 18,072
International students: 31%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
51. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
No. of students: 21,773
International students: 25%
Female:Male Ratio: 51 : 49
No. of students: 9,928
International students: 55%
Female:Male Ratio: 28 : 72
53. UCL (University College London)
No. of students: 30,304
International students: 49%
Female:Male Ratio: 56 : 44
54. University of British Columbia
No. of students: 51,889
International students: 29%
Female:Male Ratio: 54 : 46
55. Pohang University of Science And Technology (POSTECH)
No. of students: 3,046
International students: 4%
Female:Male Ratio: 22 : 78
56. The University of Manchester
No. of students: 35,318
International students: 38%
Female:Male Ratio: 52 : 48
57. Osaka University
No. of students: 23,256
International students: 10%
Female:Male Ratio: 31 : 69
No. of students: 38,770
International students: 23%
Female:Male Ratio: 42 : 58
59. KU Leuven
No. of students: 44,412
International students: 15%
Female:Male Ratio: 50 : 50
Family Support: Getting the support of all family members, friends and counselors is also helpful. If you ever fall into a situation and can’t make a decision, don’t stay stuck. Focus on gathering more information and additional data that can help you decide well. If you still can’t make a logical decision; go with your heart.
60. The University of Queensland
No. of students: 38,968
International students: 26%
Female:Male Ratio: 55 : 45
No. of students: 32,000
International students: 17%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
No. of students: 17,494
International students: 10%
Female:Male Ratio: 26 : 74
No. of students: 30,940
International students: 26%
Female:Male Ratio: 57 : 43
64. Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU)
No. of students: 24,055
International students: 12%
Female:Male Ratio: 42 : 58
65. The University of Edinburgh
No. of students: 26,759
International students: 40%
Female:Male Ratio: 59 : 41
No. of students: 26,587
International students: 32%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
67. Korea University
No. of students: 23,037
International students: 19%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
68. National Chiao Tung University
No. of students: 12,639
International students: 7%
Female:Male Ratio: 28 : 72
69. The University of Auckland
No. of students: 30,348
International students: 29%
Female:Male Ratio: 54 : 46
Begin to eliminate colleges and universities from your final list. After talking with your parents, teachers, family, friends; you need to begin narrowing down your selections, aiming to compile a list of your final choices. There are many ways to narrow your list — from choice of majors to size to location.
No. of students: 18,038
International students: 21%
Female:Male Ratio: 45 : 55
No. of students: 15,512
International students: 13%
Female:Male Ratio: 49 : 51
72. Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD)
No. of students:
International students:
Female:Male Ratio:
73. National Cheng Kung University (NCKU)
No. of students: 7,284
International students: 1%
Female:Male Ratio: 20 : 80
No. of students: 2,799
International students: 36%
Female:Male Ratio: 21 : 79
75. University of Pennsylvania
No. of students: 45,411
International students: 14%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
76. City University of Hong Kong
No. of students: 9,240
International students: 35%
Female:Male Ratio: 54 : 46
77. Yale University
No. of students: n/a
International students: n/a
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
78. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB)
No. of students: 9,870
International students: 1%
Female:Male Ratio: 17 : 83
79. CentraleSupélec
No. of students: 4,226
International students: 33%
Female:Male Ratio: 22 : 78
No. of students: 26,059
International students: 18%
Female:Male Ratio: 31 : 69
No. of students: 40,371
International students: 12%
Female:Male Ratio: 32 : 68
No. of students: 17,466
International students: 18%
Female:Male Ratio: 48 : 52
83. University of Science and Technology of China
No. of students: 16,032
International students: 3%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
84. Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
No. of students: 21,581
International students: 12%
Female:Male Ratio: 27 : 73
No. of students: 44,945
International students: 16%
Female:Male Ratio: 52 : 48
No. of students: 20,879
International students: 17%
Female:Male Ratio: n/a
87. Pennsylvania State University
No. of students: 45,411
International students: 14%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
88. Eindhoven University of Technology
No. of students: 7,637
International students: 17%
Female:Male Ratio: 28 : 72
89. Technische Universität Darmstadt
No. of students: 17,776
International students: 16%
Female:Male Ratio: 30 : 70
Networking Tip: Find friends on Facebook who will go to the same university as you, so you won’t be alone on the first day.
90. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
No. of students: 25,929
International students: 18%
Female:Male Ratio: 44 : 56
91. University of Wisconsin-Madison
No. of students: 38,960
International students: 12%
Female:Male Ratio: 51 : 49
92. RMIT University
No. of students: 31,465
International students: 25%
Female:Male Ratio: 47 : 53
93. Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)
No. of students: 25,975
International students: 8%
Female:Male Ratio: 63 : 37
94. University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
No. of students: 29,633
International students: 17%
Female:Male Ratio: 46 : 54
No. of students: 18,038
International students: 9%
Female:Male Ratio: 30 : 70
No. of students: 18,696
International students: 12%
Female:Male Ratio: 29 : 71
97. Technische Universität Dresden
No. of students: 34,514
International students: 13%
Female:Male Ratio: 42 : 58
98. Chalmers University of Technology
No. of students: 9,112
International students: 16%
Female:Male Ratio: 31 : 69
99. National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech)
No. of students: 7,981
International students: 13%
Female:Male Ratio: 32 : 68
No. of students: 27,061
International students: 27%
Female:Male Ratio: 54 : 46
The 2nd Survey Results:
Times Higher Education is another organization that conducted their own research on ranking the best engineering schools in the world, and their results are slightly different. We’ve decided to also include these results and rankings, giving another perspective, allowing us to better evaluate the data and make a decision based on several sources.
The Ranking Indicators utilized by the Times Higher Education® World University Rankings (source of the list below) for top engineering and technology schools in the world are: Citations, Industry Income, International Outlook, Research, and Teaching.
And the Engineering and Technology subjects included in these rankings are Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Chemical and General Engineering subjects.
Top 100 Best Engineering Schools in the World
(Times Higher Education World University Rankings)
- Stanford University
- California Institute of Technology
- University of Oxford
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- University of Cambridge
- Princeton University
- Peking University
- National University of Singapore
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
- Imperial College London
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Carnegie Mellon University
- University of California, Berkeley
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
- University of Michigan
- Delft University of Technology
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Cornell University
- Technical University of Munich
- Tsinghua University
- Northwestern University
- RWTH Aachen University
- Purdue University
- Columbia University
- Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
- University of Texas at Austin
- University of Toronto
- University of Hong Kong
- University of California, Santa Barbara
- Seoul National University
- University of California, San Diego
- Johns Hopkins University
- University of Tokyo
- UCL
- KU Leuven
- KTH Royal Institute of Technology
- University of Science and Technology of China
- University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Shanghai Jiao Tong University
- Kyoto University
- Technical University of Berlin
- University of Washington
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Manchester
- Fudan University
- Sungkyunkwan University
- Rice University
- Zhejiang University
- Eindhoven University of Technology
- Ohio State University
- Pohang University of Science and Technology
- Pennsylvania State University
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
- Texas A&M University
- Monash University
- Technical University of Denmark
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- City University of Hong Kong
- Tohoku University
- University of British Columbia
- University of Melbourne
- University of Southern California
- Tokyo Institute of Technology
- Australian National University
- Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Brown University
- University of New South Wales
- University of California, Davis
- McGill University
- University of Maryland, College Park
- University of Queensland
- University of Minnesota
- University of Bristol
- University of Sydney
- University of Stuttgart
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute
- Chalmers University of Technology
- Nanjing University
- National Taiwan University
- École Polytechnique
- University of Waterloo
- University of Sheffield
- Aalborg University
- Norwegian University of Science & Technology
- University of Southampton
- University of Freiburg
- Indian Institute of Science
- Polytechnic University of Milan
- University of Colorado Boulder
- Tongji University
- North Carolina State University
- TU Dresden
- University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
- Lund University
- University of Wollongong
- Osaka University
- Aalto University
- University of Delaware
We looked at the top engineering schools with the highest Industry Income Score, in each country that was listed in the research results. If you live in any of the countries listed below, getting your engineering degree from the school listed will certainly contribute to you making a lot of money. Though you should keep in mind that your engineering degree only prepares you to begin playing in the big leagues. The transitionary period between graduation and your first professional job is extremely important. It has the power to bring you a fortune or send you on an unintended path.
Industry Income Score is an aspect that’s rapidly becoming a priority for selecting a university. It indicates the financial impact of an institution’s research on the economy, which is a reflection of the commercial value of the research.
The industry income score is of great importance if you prioritize your salary and visualize a career in your engineering, science or technology field.
The University with the highest Industry Income Score in each country are:
- Australia: University of Newcastle
- Austria: Johannes Kepler University of Linz
- Belgian: University of Liège
- Brazil: University of São Paulo
- Canada: University of Alberta
- Chile: University of Concepción
- China: Tongji University
- Cypress: University of Cyprus
- Denmark: Aarhus University
- Estonia: Tallinn University of Technology
- Finland: Tampere University of Technology
- France: École Polytechnique
- Germany: RWTH Aachen University
- Greece: University of Patras
- Hong Kong: City University of Hong Kong
- Iceland: University of Iceland
- India: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
- Iran: Sharif University of Technology
- Ireland: National University of Ireland, Galway
- Israel: Bar-Ilan University
- Italy: Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
- Japan: Nagoya University
- Kuwait: Kuwait University
- Lebanon: American University of Beirut
- Luxembourg: University of Luxembourg
- Malaysia: Universiti Teknologi Petronas
- Macao: University of Macau
- Mexico: Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education
- Netherland: Eindhoven University of Technology
- New Zealand: University of Waikato
- Norway: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
- Pakistan: National University of Sciences and Technology
- Poland: Warsaw University of Technology
- Portugal: University of Minho
- Qatar: Qatar University
- Russia: Lomonosov Moscow State University
- Saudi Arabia: King Saud University
- Singapore: Nanyang Technological University
- Slovenia: University of Maribor
- South Africa: University of the Witwatersrand
- South Korea: Korea University
- Spain: University of Seville
- Sweden: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
- Switzerland: École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- Taiwan: National Cheng Kung University (NCKU)
- Thailand: King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi
- Turkey: Istanbul Technical University
- UAE: United Arab Emirates University
- UK: Imperial College London
- USA: University of California, San Diego
Do you agree with these rankings? What are some of the parameters you use to choose a university?
To learn more about the parameters used in this research, click here.
I remember when I graduated from high school in 2003 and start looking at my options, my exam scores and GPA was so low that I couldn’t even qualify to get into a university. So my only option was to go to a college, take some courses again, and then qualify to go to university.
This video helps you understand the Total Cost of Living while you’re going to a university:
I know all of us reading this article are in different locations and unique situations. It’s tough or impossible for many future engineers to start studying at some of these universities, and that’s completely okay. Education is only a foundation. If you have access to the Internet you can almost learn anything you want. The only question is: How bad do you want it?
Thanks for reviewing this long article. Our goal was to help you as best as we can in choosing the right university for yourself, or learn more about top universities so that you can set new goals to pursue them.
In the comments below, write the name of your college/university, their ranking if you know, and any other information that can help a recent high school graduate prepare for college/university.