Ranked as the top graduate engineering school in the country, MIT has no shortage of notable programs. Students in the renowned aeronautics and astronautics department work with scientists from NASA and the U.S. Air Force on projects such as designing new aerospace vehicles, while chemical engineering students can choose to specialize in areas such as polymers, nanostructures and environmental engineering.
In keeping with its Silicon Valley location, Stanford University offers a variety of top-ranked high tech programs. Established in 2004, the Atmosphere and Energy program focuses on exploring environmentally sound energy sources. Similarly, the Sustainable Design and Construction program trains students in green building practices. In the computer science department, students can specialize in areas such as artificial intelligence, security, and database systems.
Ranked as the top public university engineering program, UC-Berkeley has also been recognized for its outstanding electrical engineering department. Electrical engineering doctoral students can choose from a variety of areas of study including energy science and new media. Students in the top-ranked environmental engineering program are encouraged to expand their studies with courses in subjects like biology, mechanical engineering and public health.
Georgia Tech is the highest-ranked engineering school in the southern U.S. and home to the top-ranked industrial engineering department. The department offers master's degrees in areas ranging from supply chain engineering to operations research, and industrial engineering doctoral students can choose from specializations such as statistics and economic analysis. In the highly ranked biomedical engineering department, students can enroll in a joint Ph.D. program with China's Peking University.
The College of Engineering at the University of Illinois' flagship campus is especially well known for its programs in materials, biological and agricultural engineering. Materials engineering students can specialize in materials such as ceramics, polymers and metals. Agricultural and biological engineering students and faculty conduct research in areas ranging from grain to water quality.
Carnegie Mellon's Carnegie Institute of Technology has a variety of multidisciplinary engineering graduate programs. For example, the one-year Master's in Product Development combines courses in engineering design with classes on market research and entrepreneurship. The architecture-engineering construction management master's degree is a joint degree between the Civil Engineering department and the School of Architecture and includes a summer internship for students without prior work experience.
The California Institute of Technology, also known as Cal Tech, is known for its small size and high-caliber academics. Students in the chemical engineering graduate programs focus on the areas of kinetics, thermodynamics and transport phenomena; each student is also required to broaden their education with a minor in a non-engineering subject. Similarly, mechanical engineering master's students can take nearly half of their coursework in math or other engineering disciplines.
One of the most renowned departments at the University of Texas' flagship campus is the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering. Degree options within the department include a joint degree program in which students can earn a dual master's degree in engineering and public policy. Both master's and doctoral students can choose from concentrations such as geotechnical, transportation or construction engineering.
The University of Michigan has a unique program to prepare engineers with a global outlook. Undergraduates can apply to the Engineering Global Leadership Honors program, which allows them to earn a bachelor's and master's degree in any of Michigan's engineering disciplines in five years. Additionally, students take foreign language, culture and graduate business courses. The final component of the program involves a series of leadership courses that prepare students for a 14-week paid internship.
Students in Cornell's biological and environmental engineering master's program can use their education to change the world. In the Masters International program, students spend two semesters taking classes on campus before leaving on a full-time tour of service in the Peace Corps. Upon returning to campus, students complete their coursework and present a project based on their overseas experience.