Methodology: Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs
The U.S. News rankings of undergraduate programs accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology are based solely on the judgments of deans and senior faculty who rated each program they are familiar with on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished). Engineering school deans and faculty members were surveyed in spring 2007. We have separate rankings for undergraduate engineering programs at schools that offer doctoral degrees in engineering and at schools whose terminal degree in engineering is a bachelor's or master's. Research at the graduate level often influences the undergraduate curriculum, and schools with doctoral programs in engineering tend to have the widest possible range of offerings. Students who prefer a program focused on undergraduates can consult the list of top programs at schools whose terminal degree is the bachelor's or master's. Forty-five percent of those surveyed returned ratings of the group whose terminal degree in engineering is a bachelor's or master's; 59 percent did so for the doctoral group. We also asked for nominations of the best programs in specialty areas; those receiving the most mentions in each appear here. Schools offering any courses in that specialty are eligible to be ranked in that specialty.
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