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Best Colleges for Chemical Engineering

50 Chemical Engineering programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion — from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

⚡Quick answer

For Chemical Engineering, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $121,027. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion — not reputation or cost — across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$121,027	$18,155	104	93.6
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$122,093	$17,000	48	92
3	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$116,165	$14,361	47	90.8
4	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$115,423	$19,672	131	90.6
5	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$113,614	$16,750	78	88.2
6	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$111,073	$18,017	246	87.7
7	Lafayette College Easton, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$115,726	$17,000	31	86.5
8	University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$113,317	$14,937	53	86.2
9	Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA	Bachelor's Degree	$114,226	$20,500	82	85.6
10	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Master's Degree	$131,873	—	46	84.5
11	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Doctoral Degree	$184,436	—	39	84.2
12	Rice University Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$113,605	$13,178	25	83.6
13	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Bachelor's Degree	$109,607	$19,600	106	83.5
14	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$109,551	$17,054	75	83.2
15	University of Houston Houston, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$110,184	$19,228	74	83.1
16	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$108,066	$17,000	79	82.4
17	Northwestern University Evanston, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$111,040	$16,500	34	82.1
18	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Master's Degree	$122,043	—	34	81.8
19	University of Delaware Newark, DE	Doctoral Degree	$161,693	—	18	80.9
20	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Master's Degree	$114,037	—	76	80.6
21	Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN	Bachelor's Degree	$121,641	—	26	80.3
22	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Master's Degree	$114,309	—	56	80.2
23	University of Houston Houston, TX	Master's Degree	$125,334	—	14	79.9
24	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	Master's Degree	$116,890	—	27	79.3
25	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$115,218	—	41	78.7
26	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$120,085	—	21	78.7
27	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$109,405	$20,964	73	78.3
28	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	Master's Degree	$116,242	—	20	77.7
29	Tufts University Medford, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$115,375	—	26	77.2
30	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$104,705	$21,155	161	76.5
31	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$105,724	$17,733	42	76.3
32	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Master's Degree	$114,034	—	33	75.7
33	University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$109,884	$20,500	28	75.6
34	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$104,514	$21,500	164	75.3
35	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$104,317	$21,470	155	75.1
36	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$102,649	$15,750	62	74.6
37	Auburn University Auburn, AL	Bachelor's Degree	$106,726	$22,604	93	74.5
38	Weill Medical College of Cornell University New York, NY	Master's Degree	$114,309	—	0	74.3
39	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	Bachelor's Degree	$101,726	$14,680	68	73.7
40	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$110,378	$23,125	44	73
41	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	Master's Degree	$111,149	—	20	72.3
42	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$102,849	$21,322	91	71.4
43	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	Master's Degree	$110,950	—	12	70.6
44	University of Mississippi University, MS	Bachelor's Degree	$107,548	$22,288	26	69.9
45	North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC	Bachelor's Degree	$109,537	$23,272	33	69.5
46	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Bachelor's Degree	$107,843	—	30	69.2
47	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$107,767	$26,623	86	68
48	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$106,011	$24,875	71	68
49	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$100,646	$13,000	36	67.9
50	University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI	Bachelor's Degree	$101,676	$21,638	103	67.8

🔍 Filter Chemical Engineering by state & degree level →

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Hidden Gems for Chemical Engineering

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Chemical Engineering — the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	University of Delaware Newark, DE Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$161,693	71%	80.9
2	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$116,242	79%	77.7
3	Weill Medical College of Cornell University New York, NY Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$114,309	—	74.3
4	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$111,149	55%	72.3
5	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$102,849	75%	71.4
6	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$110,950	65%	70.6
7	University of Mississippi University, MS Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$107,548	97%	69.9
8	North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$109,537	50%	69.5
9	Lamar University Beaumont, TX Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$101,018	86%	66.9
10	University of Louisiana at Lafayette Lafayette, LA Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$102,119	87%	66.8
11	University of Louisville Louisville, KY Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$101,068	79%	65.5
12	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY Strong Chemical Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$102,730	74%	65.5

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0–100 within the Chemical Engineering field (CIP 14.07) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Chemical Engineering programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded — never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Chemical Engineering program?+

By our outcome score, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 for Chemical Engineering, with median graduate earnings of $121,027.

How are these Chemical Engineering programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0–100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Chemical Engineering programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.