What Colleges in Pennsylvania Offer Nuclear Engineering Degrees?

Penn State's Program

• Penn State houses its nuclear engineering degree program in its College of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. An undergraduate student may apply for a concurrent or double major in mechanical engineering to supplement his nuclear engineering major. Penn State is one of very few universities that has an operating research reactor on campus, the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor. Undergraduate nuclear engineering students use the reactor in two laboratory courses and have the opportunity to work and research at the Radiation Science and Engineering Center. The undergraduate nuclear engineering program at Penn State takes an average of 4.2 years and 157 credits to complete, according to the university's website.

  The Pennsylvania State University

  Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Undergraduate Office

  140B Reber Building

  University Park, PA 16802

  814-863-1503

  mne.psu.edu

The 2 + 2 Program

• Because the first two years of Penn State's undergraduate nuclear engineering major focus on fundamentals in chemistry, mathematics, thermal science and other basic courses, students may take the first two years of the nuclear engineering major at any of Penn State's twenty commonwealth campus locations across the state of Pennsylvania and transfer to Penn State-University Park to complete their junior and senior year coursework. More than 60 percent of all Penn State students choose this option, which may help students save money since the commonwealth campuses all have lower tuition than University Park, the flagship campus.

Graduate Degrees

• Penn State is also the only college or university in Pennsylvania to offer a graduate program in nuclear engineering. Penn State's graduate nuclear engineering program was ranked fifth in 2010 by U.S. News & World Report's annual ranking of the top ten nuclear engineering schools. Penn State offers a Master's in Engineering degree specializing in nuclear engineering, a Master's of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering (thesis and non-thesis options) and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering. The Master's of Engineering may be taken entirely online through Penn State's distance learning program.

  The Pennsylvania State University

  Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, Graduate Office

  127 Reber Building

  University Park, PA 16802

  814-865-1345

  mne.psu.edu