Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Civil Engineering

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

Quick answer

For Civil Engineering, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $108,548. 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	$108,548	$14,342	106	94.6
2	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	Master's Degree	$108,826	$12,168	41	92
3	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$106,308	$8,125	34	89.6
4	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Master's Degree	$112,223	$20,500	57	89
5	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Master's Degree	$106,004	$15,564	45	88.7
6	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Master's Degree	$106,894	$19,591	74	88
7	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$97,790	$16,500	277	86.6
8	University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Master's Degree	$107,621	-	248	85.3
9	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	Master's Degree	$120,234	-	44	85.2
10	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$101,072	$20,424	130	85.1
11	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Master's Degree	$114,115	-	47	85
12	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$130,675	-	37	85
13	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$103,685	$20,500	90	84.9
14	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Master's Degree	$99,698	$19,050	89	84.9
15	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$95,854	$13,274	124	84.8
16	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Master's Degree	$111,544	-	57	84.8
17	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$95,939	$16,000	127	84.4
18	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$97,092	$17,529	87	83.9
19	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$96,354	$17,816	123	83.6
20	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$106,415	-	101	83.6
21	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Master's Degree	$110,863	-	38	82.9
22	Manhattan College Riverdale, NY	Master's Degree	$119,967	-	25	82.8
23	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Master's Degree	$111,986	-	27	82.4
24	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	Master's Degree	$108,638	-	34	81.8
25	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$95,865	$19,832	227	81.3
26	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Doctoral Degree	$110,992	-	24	81.3
27	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$120,651	-	13	81.1
28	California State University-Northridge Northridge, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$97,123	$19,834	75	81.1
29	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	Master's Degree	$99,226	$21,044	65	79.9
30	Villanova University Villanova, PA	Master's Degree	$108,449	-	24	79.7
31	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	Master's Degree	$103,586	$20,500	26	79.7
32	Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA	Bachelor's Degree	$105,199	-	34	78.8
33	The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$108,466	-	18	78.7
34	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$93,973	$18,000	145	78.6
35	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS	Master's Degree	$110,821	-	11	78.6
36	Stanford University Stanford, CA	Master's Degree	$112,118	$34,030	137	78.5
37	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Master's Degree	$100,767	-	64	78.4
38	Wayne State University Detroit, MI	Master's Degree	$108,995	-	11	78.4
39	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$94,760	$16,500	73	78.3
40	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$95,271	$19,875	143	78.3
41	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Bachelor's Degree	$108,246	-	18	78.1
42	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$95,761	$20,500	85	77.4
43	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$94,960	$19,318	81	77.3
44	Northeastern University Boston, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$100,613	$24,750	89	77
45	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$105,594	-	20	76.9
46	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Master's Degree	$108,274	$28,780	162	76.9
47	Columbia University in the City of New York New York, NY	Master's Degree	$111,924	$32,685	84	76.8
48	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Master's Degree	$103,656	$26,500	123	76.7
49	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	Master's Degree	$108,193	-	5	76.4
50	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	Master's Degree	$105,565	-	18	76.2

Filter Civil Engineering by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Civil Engineering

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

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	Manhattan College Riverdale, NY Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$119,967	79%	82.8
2	California State University-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$120,651	91%	81.1
3	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$110,821	78%	78.6
4	Wayne State University Detroit, MI Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$108,995	81%	78.4
5	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$105,565	93%	76.2
6	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$103,788	58%	75.6
7	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$107,682	65%	74.8
8	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$100,133	63%	74
9	University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$103,070	67%	72.8
10	Ohio University-Main Campus Athens, OH Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$97,552	85%	70.7
11	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$94,228	61%	70.1
12	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR Strong Civil Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, smaller, lower-profile campus	$98,705	63%	69.9

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 Civil Engineering field (CIP 14.08) 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 Civil 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 Civil Engineering program?+

By our outcome score, University of California-Berkeley (California) ranks #1 for Civil Engineering, with median graduate earnings of $108,548.

How are these Civil 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 Civil 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).

Keep exploring

Civil Engineering rankings (filterable)All major rankings Browse colleges Tuition-free colleges All Best-Of guides

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. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.