UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State's College of Engineering ranked No. 28 — rising three places from last year — for overall national engineering graduate programs in U.S. News & World Report's recently released 2026 "Best Graduate Schools" ranking. The college ranks No. 14 in the nation among public university programs, and it remains the No. 1 public university program in Pennsylvania.
Eight departments in the College of Engineering ranked in the Top 25 of their respective disciplines, and eight departments saw their rankings increase from 2025. Civil engineering, housed in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, had the most notable increase, climbing six spots to No. 17.
“The rise in graduate rankings for the College of Engineering and many of our programs is recognition of our achievement of excellence at scale and the impact we have on a national level,” said Tonya L. Peeples, Harold and Inge Marcus Dean of Engineering. "Our faculty are exceptional not only as researchers but also as educators, and I am proud of everyone within our engineering community whose hard work contributes to making our graduate programs among the top in the country."
U.S. News' "Best Graduate School" rankings for overall programs are tabulated by a number of factors, including research activity, which considers research grants data and expenditures; faculty research, which considers citations per publication and field-weighted citation impact, which analyzes publications cited in top 5% and 25% of journals; recruiter assessment survey scores; faculty resources, which includes number of doctoral degrees awarded, doctorate-to-faculty ratio and percentage of faculty in the National Academy of Engineering; and student selectivity, which examines acceptance rate.
In addition, U.S. News requests that colleges and universities complete peer assessment surveys that evaluate other schools on engagement, services and technology, as well as faculty credentials and training. Speciality displines are ranked solely based on these surveys.
Penn State had four disciplines ranked in the top 15: nuclear engineering, housed in the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering (No. 10); industrial/manufacturing engineering, housed in the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (No. 13); agricultural engineering, housed in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering (No. 13), and aerospace engineering, housed in the Department of Aerospace Engineering (No. 13).
For more information, visit the U.S. News website.