stanford university phd civil engineering

CEE-PHD - Civil and Environmental Engineering (PhD)

Program overview.

The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Stanford conducts fundamental and applied research to advance the civil and environmental engineering professions, educate future academic and industry leaders, and prepare students for careers in professional practice. Civil and environmental engineers work to protect and sustain the natural environment while creating and maintaining a resilient, sustainably built environment. Civil and environmental engineers are essential to providing the necessities of human life, including water, air, shelter, infrastructure, and energy, in increasingly more efficient and renewable ways.

Research and teaching in the department focus on the theme of engineering for sustainability, including three core areas: built environment, environmental and water studies, and atmosphere/energy. In sustainably produced environments, the focus is on processes, techniques, materials, and monitoring technologies for planning, designing, constructing, and operating environmentally sensitive, economically efficient, performance-based buildings and infrastructure and managing associated risks from natural and artificial hazards. Environmental and water studies focus on creating plans, policies, science-based assessment models, and engineered systems to manage water in ways that protect human health, promote human welfare, and provide freshwater and coastal ecosystem services. In the atmosphere/energy area, research and teaching focus on fundamental energy and atmospheric engineering and science, assessment of energy-use effects on atmospheric processes and air quality, and analysis and design of energy-efficient generation and use systems with minimal environmental impact.

Free Form Requisites

The PhD program requires a total of 135 units of graduate study, at least 90 units of which must be at Stanford. Up to 45 units of graduate study can be represented by the MS program described above. Additionally, up to 45 units of graduate study can be represented by the Engineer (ENG) program as described above if both the MS and ENG units were all completed at Stanford. Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in post-M.S. coursework. All candidates for the PhD degree are required to complete CEE 200 in conjunction with a one-quarter teaching assistantship/course assistantship to gain training and instructional experience. The department Graduate Handbook contains further information on PhD requirements and regulations.

The program of study is arranged via consultation between the prospective candidate and their dissertation research advisor. This program of study considers the interests of the student and the background needed for their thesis topic within the framework of the requirements of the department and the university.

By the end of a student’s sixth quarter as an enrolled PhD student, excluding summers, the student is expected to pass both parts of the department’s General Qualifying Examination (GQE) to be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree. The GQE aims to ensure that the student is adequately prepared to undertake doctoral research and has a well-planned research topic. The exam includes (1) a written and/or oral general examination of the candidate’s doctoral major field, (2) a presentation and defense of the candidate’s doctoral research dissertation proposal, or (3) a combination research proposal and general examination. The GQE is administered by an advisory committee consisting of at least three Stanford faculty members, including a chair who is a faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineering and the student’s doctoral advisor. When the primary advisor is not a member of the CEE faculty (CEE-Academic Council), there must be a CEE faculty (CEE-Academic Council) co-adviser, and the committee will consist of four examiners, with a minimum of two members who are Academic Council in the CEE department. All members are generally on the Stanford Academic Council. A petition for the appointment of one advisory committee member not on the Academic Council may be made if the proposed person contributes an area of expertise that is not readily available from the faculty. Such petitions are subject to approval by the department chair. When the primary research advisor is not a member of the CEE Academic Council faculty, there must be a CEE faculty (CEE-Academic Council) co-adviser, and the committee will consist of four examiners, with a minimum of two members who are Academic Council faculty in the CEE department.

MS Programs

Main navigation, ms programs in cee.

Our Master of Science (MS) programs are terminal degree programs for those seeking advanced knowledge in a focused discipline of civil and environmental engineering to pursue a career in industry or another professional degree. The MS degree is a coursework-based degree. No research or thesis are required. However, in most programs students may elect to conduct independent research for course credit if they wish. Our Master’s degrees are offered under the general regulations of the university as set forth in the Stanford Bulletin .

The Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering offers Master’s degrees in five areas of specialization as shown below. There are many fundamental skills and bodies of knowledge that are foundation to all areas of specialization in a modern CEE graduate education and these cross-cutting courses are accessible to students in any program.

(1) Atmosphere/Energy

Stanford University’s Atmosphere/Energy MS degree program bridges the gap between the two key disciplines of Civil and Environmental Engineering. This program aims to mitigate atmospheric problems by increasing the efficiency with which energy is used‚ optimize the use of natural energy resources and understand the effects of energy technologies on the atmosphere.

(2) Environmental Engineering

The Environmental Engineering MS degree program emphasizes the application of fundamental principles to analyze complex environmental problems and to devise effective solutions. With this education, graduates of our program are able to deal effectively with new environmental problems as they emerge and meet the challenges created globally by increasing urbanization, population growth and ecological degradation.

(3) Structural Engineering & Mechanics and Computation

Previously called Structural Engineering & Geomechanics; there are no changes to academic requirements for current students already admitted to Structural Engineering & Geomechanics. The Structural Engineering and Mechanics and Computation MS degree programs offers courses in a broad range of areas related to structural analysis and design, geomechanics, engineering informatics, hazard risk and reliability, structural mechanics and materials, and structural sensing, monitoring and data analytics for the built environment.

(4) Sustainable Design & Construction

The Sustainable Design and Construction MS degree program prepares students for careers in the built environment: designing, building, and managing sustainable buildings and infrastructure to maximize their lifecycle economic value as well as their net contribution to environmental and social functions and services.

(5) Sustainable Engineered Systems

The Sustainable Engineered Systems MS degree program, available exclusively in a hybrid online/on-campus format, is designed for students who want to gain advanced knowledge of the sustainability of civil and environmental engineering systems and data science along with a specialization in structural and material systems, sustainable construction systems, environmental engineering systems, or atmospheric and energy systems.

Cross-Cutting Curricula

Cross-cutting curricula are accessible to students in any program. The CEE MS Cross Cutting Course List covers both fundamental skills and bodies of knowledge foundational to modern CEE graduate education. The four areas are 1) Probability, statistics, & data analysis for infrastructure analysis; 2) Public policy, decision analysis, & economics of infrastructure systems; 3) Ethics, equity, and environmental justice in the built and natural environments; and 4) Scientific computing and numerical methods.  The current course offerings in each area are summarized below.  While some courses will be more relevant to students of specific programs than others, we hope this list is valuable as you select classes.

CEE Students Yiwen Dong and Jingxiao Liu win Best Paper Award at 2020 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing

The students of one of CEE's newest faculty members, Associate Professor Haeyoung Noh, won with a paper submitted to the UbiComp Nurse Care Activity Recognition Challenge

October 08, 2020

Mirshekari and Noh win 1st place for ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute Paper

CEE Postdoc Mostafa Mirshekari and Associate Professor Hae Young Noh's paper won the 1st place for the best student paper competition by ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute (EMI)

June 25, 2020

Mirshekari and Noh Receive Best Paper by ASME

Postdoctoral Scholar Mostafa Mirshekari and Associate Professor Hae Young Noh received the 2019 Best Journal Paper Award given by the ASME SHM/NDE Technical Committee

May 27, 2020

Professor Haeyoung Noh awarded Best Paper at IoTDI 2020

May 01, 2020

Footstep Sensors Identify People by Gait

Article in Scientific American

April 30, 2020

• In the News

Hae Young Noh is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering . Her research introduced the new concept of “structures as sensors” to enable physical structures (e.g., buildings and vehicle frames) to be user- and environment-aware. In particular, these structures indirectly sense humans and surrounding environments through their structural responses (i.e., vibrations) by inferring the desired information (e.g., human behaviors, environmental conditions, heating and cooling system performance), instead of directly measuring the sensing targets with additional dedicated sensors (e.g., cameras, motion sensors). This concept brought a paradigm shift in how we view these structures and how the structures interact with us.

Traditionally, structures that we inhabit (such as buildings or vehicles) are considered as passive and unchanging objects that we need to monitor and control, utilizing a dense set of sensors to collect information. This has often been complicated by “noise” caused by the occupants and environments. For example, building vibrations induced by indoor and outdoor environmental and operational conditions (e.g., people walking around, traffic outside, heating system running, etc.), have been often seen as noise that needs to be removed in traditional building science and structural engineering; however, they are a rich source of information about structure, users, environment, and resources. Similarly, in vehicle engineering, researchers and engineers have been investigating control and dynamics to reduce vehicle vibration for safety and comfort. However, vibrations measured inside vehicles contain information about transportation infrastructure, vehicle itself, and driver.

Noh's work utilizes this “noise” to empower the structures with the ability to perceive and understand the information about users and surroundings using their own responses, and actively adopt and/or interact to enhance their sustainability and the occupants’ quality of life. Since she utilizes the structure itself as a sensing medium, information collection involves a simpler set of hardware that can be easily maintained throughout the structural lifetime. However, the analysis of data to separate the desired information becomes more challenging. This challenge is addressed through high-rate dynamic sensing and multi-source inferencing. Ultimately, her work aims to allow structural systems to become general sensing platforms that are easier and more practical to deploy and maintain in a long-term.

Stanford University PhD  in Civil & Environmental Engineering, Structural Engineering and Geomechanics, 2011 MS  in   Electrical Engineering, Information Systems Laboratory, 2011 MS  in   Civil & Environmental Engineering, Structural Engineering and Geomechanics, 2008

Cornell University  BS  in   Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, 2005

B.S. Civil Engineering , B.A. Economics , and M.S. Environmental Engineering (1988) Stanford University M.S. (1991) and Ph.D. (1994) Atmospheric Science, University of California at Los Angeles

Full Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Scientific Background Mark Z. Jacobson’s career has focused on better understanding air pollution and global warming problems and developing large-scale clean, renewable energy solutions to them. Toward that end, he has developed and applied three-dimensional (3-D) atmosphere-biosphere-ocean computer models and solvers to simulate and understand air pollution, weather, climate, and renewable energy systems. He has also developed roadmaps to transition countries, states, cities, and towns to 100% clean, renewable energy for all purposes and computer models to examine grid stability in the presence of 100% renewable energy. Jacobson has been a professor at Stanford University since 1994. His research crosses two fields: Atmospheric Sciences and Energy, each discussed next.

In 2000 and 2001 , Jacobson applied his model to discover that black carbon, the main component of soot air pollution particles, may be the second-leading cause of global warming in terms of radiative forcing, after carbon dioxide. Several subsequent studies, including the highly-cited review by Bond et al. (2013) , confirmed his finding.

Jacobson’s finding about black carbon’s climate effects resulted in his invitation to testify to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007 and formed the original scientific basis for several proposed laws and policies. These included U.S. Senate Report 110-489 (Black Carbon Research Bill of 2008), U.S. House Bill 7250 (Arctic Climate Preservation Act of 2008), U.S. House Bill 1760 (Black Carbon Emissions Reduction Act of 2009), U.S. Senate Bill 849 (2009 Bill for the U.S. EPA to research black carbon), U.S. Senate Bill 3973 (Diesel Emission Reduction Act of 2010), European Parliament Resolution B7-0474/2011 (Resolution calling for black carbon controls on climate grounds), the 2012 multi-country Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, led by Hilary Clinton, California Senate Bill 1383 (2016 Bill to reduce black carbon), and California’s 2002 rule to not allow diesel vehicles to have higher particle emissions than gasoline vehicles.

For his black carbon discovery and modeling, Jacobson received the 2005 American Meteorological Society Henry G. Houghton Award , given for his "significant contributions to modeling aerosol chemistry and to understanding the role of soot and other carbon particles on climate" and a 2013 American Geophysical Union Ascent Award for "his dominating role in the development of models to identify the role of black carbon in climate change."

Jacobson’s 2008 and 2010 findings that carbon dioxide domes over cities have enhanced air pollution mortality through its feedback to particles and ozone resulted in another invitation for him to testify in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008 and to testify twice in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hearings. In the first EPA hearing he was called as the State of California’s only expert witness to testify on how carbon dioxide can damage health locally by increasing temperatures and water vapor. This testimony served as a direct scientific basis for the EPA’s 2009 approval of the first regulation in U.S. history of carbon dioxide (the California waiver ).

In 2008, he carried out a review of proposed energy technologies to address air pollution, global warming, and energy security, concluding that wind-water-solar (WWS) technologies resulted in the greatest benefits. In 2009, he coauthored a plan, featured on the cover of Scientific American , to determine if powering the world for all purposes with WWS was possible. In 2010, he was invited to participate in a TED debate . From 2010-2012, he served on the Energy Efficiency and Renewables advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy. In 2011, he cofounded The Solutions Project non-profit, which combined science, business, culture, and community, to educate people about science-based 100% clean, renewable energy roadmaps for 100% of the people.

In 2013, 2014, and 2016, he and his students developed roadmaps to transition New York , California , and Washington State , respectively, to 100% WWS. Jacobson’s New York energy roadmap resulted in an invitation for him to appear on the Late Show with David Letterman on October 9, 2013. Jacobson was then asked by the New York governor’s office to provide more information about a possible transition of New York to 100% WWS. In 2016, the governor proposed and passed a 50% renewable law (the New York Clean Energy Standard ). Also in 2016, and in 2018, the New York Senate proposed New York Senate Bills S5527 and S5908A , respectively, for the state to go to 100% renewable electricity. The texts of both bills state, "This bill builds upon the Jacobson wind, water and solar (WWS) study." In 2019, New York State implemented Jacobson’s goal for the electricity sector by passing a law to go to 100% renewable electricity.

Similarly, on October 27, 2014, after the publication of Jacobson’s California WWS roadmap, the California governor’s office invited Jacobson to meet with the governor’s policy advisors to discuss the roadmap. In January, 2015, the governor proposed and, shortly after, obtained passage of a law ( SB 350 ) for California to move to 50% renewable electricity. In 2018, this law was updated for the state to go to 100% renewable electricity ( SB 100 ).

In 2015, Jacobson and his group published WWS plans for all 50 states and a continental-U.S.-wide grid study assuming 100% WWS. The grid paper earned Jacobson and his coauthors a 2016 Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, given for "outstanding scientific excellence and originality." The plans and grid study were updated for the 50 U.S. states and individual U.S. regions in 2022. The publication of these roadmaps, together with their dissemination by the Solutions Project and dozens of other nonprofits, resulted in the widespread awareness of Jacobson’s plans and the growth of the 100% renewable energy movement. Jacobson’s science-based plans resulted in all three Democratic presidential candidates for the 2016 election making 100% renewable energy part of their platform. Senator Sanders included Jacobson’s roadmaps on his web site and, after the election, wrote an op-ed with Jacobson in the Guardian calling for a transition to 100% renewables.

To date, activists inspired by Jacobson’s plans have encouraged 17 U.S. states (CA, CT, HI, IL, ME, MN, NC, NE, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OR, RI, VA, WA, WI), the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico to pass laws or Executive Orders requiring a transition of up to 100% clean, renewable electricity. At the federal level, eight laws and resolutions were proposed calling for the U.S. to move to 100% renewable electricity or all energy. These included House Resolution 540 (2015), House Bill 3314 (2017), House Bill 3671 (2017), House Bill 330 (2019); Senate Resolution 632 (2019), Senate Bill 987 (2019), House Resolution 109 (2019), and Senate Resolution 59 (2019). All were inspired by Jacobson’s plans. For example, the first, House Resolution 540 , states: "Whereas a Stanford University study concludes that the United States energy supply could be based entirely on renewable energy by the year 2050 using current technologies."

House Resolution 109 and Senate Resolution 59 are the proposed U.S. Green New Deal. As stated by Dr. Marshall Shepherd , "Professor Mark Jacobson at Stanford University has been a longtime leader in climate science and renewable energy transition. Many of the assumptions in the Green New Deal seem to be anchored in his scholarship." The main goals of the Green New Deal, to transition the U.S. to 100% renewable energy by 2030, came from Jacobson and Delucchi’s 2009 Scientific American paper.

In 2009 and 2011 , Jacobson developed plans to transition the world to 100% WWS. In 2017-2018, he developed more detailed plans and grid studies for 139 individual countries. These were updated for 143 countries in 2019 and 145 countries in 2022. To date, 61 countries have enacted policies calling for 100% renewable electricity.

The Sierra Club supported the Jacobson roadmaps, and in 2013, asked him to help with a campaign to encourage cities around America to adopt 100% WWS laws. Ultimately, he and his students published plans for 53 towns and cities (2018) and 74 metropolitan areas (2020). To date, about 160 U.S. cities and over 400 cities worldwide have enacted policies to transition to 100% renewable electricity. Also, over 400 international companies have committed to 100% renewables in their global operations. In 2023, Jacobson served as an expert witness on behalf of 16 youth plaintiffs in the first climate case in U.S. history, Held v. Montana , to discuss the ability of Montana to transition to WWS. The plaintiffs prevailed.

For his research and leadership in Energy, Jacobson received the 2013 Global Green Policy Design Award for the "design of analysis and policy framework to envision a future powered by renewable energy." In 2016, he received a Cozzarelli Prize . In 2018, he received the Judi Friedman Lifetime Achievement Award "For a distinguished career dedicated to finding solutions to large-scale air pollution and climate problems." In 2019 and 2022, he was selected as "one of the world’s 100 most influential people in climate policy" by Apolitical. In 2022, he was recognized as "World Visionary CleanTech Influencer of the Year" by the CleanTech Business Club. In 2023, he was named one of the top 100 people globally "who have made an impact on the world this year" among "innovators across various industries, including art, entertainment, business, and philanthropy," by Worth magazine

Based on the impact of his research through citations to papers, Jacobson is ranked as the most impactful scientist in the world in the field of Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences among those with their first publication past 1985. Among scientists publishing in any year from 1788 to 2021, he is ranked #12 in that field. In the Energy field, he is ranked #6 among those with their first publication past 1980 and #16 among those with their first publication in any year. He is also ranked #1,843 among all fields, among all 10 million scientists in history.

New Book: No Miracles Needed (2022)

100% Clean, Renewable Energy and Storage for Everything (2020)

Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions (2012)

Atmospheric Pollution: History, Science, and Regulation (2002)

Fundamentals of Atmospheric Modeling, 2d ed. (2005)

Some papers organized by topic (please see Curriculum Vitae for full list)

• A path to sustainable energy by 2030 ( Scientific American , 2009)
• Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part I: Technologies, energy resources, quantities and areas of infrastructure, and materials ( Energy Policy , 2011)
• Providing all global energy with wind, water, and solar power, Part II: Reliability, System and Transmission Costs, and Policies ( Energy Policy , 2011)
• Examining the feasibility of converting New York State’s all-purpose energy infrastructure to one using wind, water, and sunlight ( Energy Policy , 2013)
• A roadmap for repowering California for all purposes with wind, water, and sunlight( Energy , 2014)
• 100% clean and renewable wind, water, sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for the 50 United States ( Energy & Environmental Sciences , 2015)
• A 100% wind, water, sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy plan for Washington State ( Renewable Energy , 2016)
• 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for 139 countries of the world ( Joule , 2017)
• Impacts of Green-New-Deal energy plans on grid stability, costs, jobs, health, and climate in 143 countries ( One Earth , 2019)
• 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) all-sector energy roadmaps for 53 towns and cities in North America ( Sustainable Cities and Society , 2018)
• Transitioning all energy in 74 metropolitan areas, including 30 megacities, to 100% clean and renewable wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) ( Energies , 2020)
• Optimizing solar and battery storage for container farming in a remote Arctic microgrid ( Energies , 2020)
• WWS and storage to help operate expeditionary contingency bases and remote communities ( J. Defense Modeling and Simulation , 2021)
• Zero air pollution and zero carbon from all energy at low cost and without blackouts in variable weather throughout the U.S. with 100% wind-water-solar and storage ( Renewable Energy , 2022)
• Low-cost solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy insecurity for 145 countries ( Energy and Environmental Sciences , 2022)
• On the history and future of 100% renewable energy systems research ( IEEE Access , 2022)
• The cost of grid stability with 100% clean, renewable energy for all purposes when countries are isolated versus interconnected ( Renewable Energy , 2021)
• On the correlation between building heat demand and wind energy supply and how it helps to avoid blackouts ( Smart Energy , 2021)
• Matching demand with supply at low cost among 139 countries within 20 world regions with 100% intermittent wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) for all purposes ( Renewable Energy , 2018)
• A low-cost solution to the grid reliability problem with 100% penetration of intermittent wind, water, and solar for all purposes ( Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. , 2015)
• Development of a tool for optimizing solar and battery storage for container farming in a remote Arctic microgrid ( Energies , 2020)
• Optimizing investments in coupled offshore wind-electrolytic hydrogen storage systems in Denmark ( J. Power Sources , 2017)
• Flexibility mechanisms and pathways to a highly renewable U.S. electricity future ( Energy , 2016)
• Temporal and spatial tradeoffs in power system modeling with assumptions about storage: An application of the POWER model ( Energy , 2016)
• Features of a fully renewable U.S. electricity-system: Optimized mixes of wind and solar PV and transmission grid extensions ( Energy , 2014)
• Variability and uncertainty of wind power in the California electric power system ( Wind Energy , 2014)
• The carbon abatement potential of high penetration intermittent renewables ( Energy & Environmental Sciences , 2012)
• Effects of aggregating electric load in the United States ( Energy Policy , 2012)
• The potential of intermittent renewables to meet electric power demand: A review of current analytical techniques ( Proceedings of the IEEE , 2012)
• A Monte Carlo approach to generator portfolio planning and carbon emissions assessments of systems with large penetrations of variable renewables ( Renewable Energy , 2011)
• Reducing offshore transmission requirements by combining offshore wind and wave farms ( IEEE Journal of Ocean Engineering , 2011)
• Power output variations of co-located offshore wind turbines and wave energy converters in California ( Renewable Energy , 2010)
• Supplying baseload power and reducing transmission requirements by interconnecting wind farms ( J. Applied Meteorology & Climatology , 2007)
• Impacts of green hydrogen for steel, ammonia, and long-distance transport on the cost of meeting electricity, heat, cold, and hydrogen demandin 145 countries running on 100% WWS ( Smart Energy , 2023)
• Batteries or hydrogen or both for grid electricity storage upon full electrification of 145 countries with wind-water solar? ( iScience , 2024)
• Review of solutions to global warming, air pollution, and energy security ( Energy & Environmental Science , 2009)
• Exploiting wind versus coal ( Science , 2001)
• The effect on photochemical smog of converting the U.S. fleet of gasoline vehicles to modern diesel vehicles ( Geophys. Res. Letters , 2004)
• Cleaning the air and improving health with hydrogen fuel cell vehicles ( Science , 2005)
• Switching to a U.S. hydrogen fuel cell vehicle fleet: The resultant change in emissions, energy use, and global warming gases ( J. Power Sources , 2005)
• Effects of ethanol (E85) versus gasoline vehicles on cancer and mortality in the United States ( Environ. Sci. Technol , 2007)
• Effects of wind-powered hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on stratospheric ozone and global climate ( Geophys. Res. Letters , 2008)
• Examining the temperature dependence of ethanol (E85) versus gasoline emissions on air pollution with a largely-explicit chemical mechanism ( Atmospheric Environment , 2010)
• Examining the impacts of ethanol (E85) versus gasoline photochemical production of smog in a fog using near-explicit gas- and aqueous-chemistry mechanisms ( Environ. Res. Letters , 2012)
• Worldwide health effects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident ( Energy & Environmental Science , 2012)
• Carbon emissions and costs of subsidizing three New York nuclear reactors instead of replacing them with renewables ( Journal of Cleaner Production , 2018)
• The health and climate impacts of carbon capture and direct air capture ( Energy and Environmental Sciences , 2019)
• How green is blue hydrogen ( Energy Science and Engineering , 2021)
• Toward battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell military vehicles for land, air, and sea ( Energy , 2022)
• Should transportation be transitioned to ethanol with carbon capture and pipelines or electricity? A case study ( Environmental Science & Technology , 2023)
• Spatial and temporal distributions of U.S. winds and wind power at 80 m derived from measurements ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2003)
• Evaluation of global wind power ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2005)
• Large CO2 reductions via offshore wind power matched to inherent storage in energy end-uses( Geophys. Res. Lett. , 2007)
• California offshore wind energy potential ( Renewable Energy , 2010)
• U.S. East Coast offshore wind energy resources and their relationship to peak-time electricity demand ( J. Wind Energy , 2012)
• Where is the ideal location for a U.S. East Coast offshore grid ( Geophys. Res. Lett , 2012)
• Saturation wind power potential and its implications for wind energy ( Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. , 2012)
• Geographical and seasonal variability of the global "practical" wind resources ( J. Applied Geography , 2013)
• Taming hurricanes with arrays of offshore wind turbines ( Nature Climate Change , 2014)
• World estimates of radiation to optimally tilted, 1-axis, and 2-axis tracked PV panels ( Solar Energy , 2018) Summary ( link )
• Installed and output power densities of onshore and offshore wind turbines worldwide ( Energy for Sustainable Development , 2021)
• Onshore wind energy atlas for the United States accounting for land use restrictions and wind speed thresholds ( Smart Energy , 2021)
• United States offshore wind energy atlas: availability, potential, and economic insights based on wind speeds at different altitudes and thresholds and policy-informed exclusions ( Energy Conversion and Management , 2023)
• On the causal link between carbon dioxide and air pollution mortality ( Geophys. Res. Lett. , 2008) .
• The enhancement of local air pollution by urban CO2 domes ( Environ. Sci. & Technol , 2010) .
• Short-term impacts of the Aliso Canyon natural gas blowout on weather, climate, air quality, and health in California and Los Angeles ( Environ. Sci. & Technol , 2019) .
• Development and application of a new air pollution modeling system. Part III: Aerosol-phase simulations ( Atmos. Environ. , 1997)
• Isolating nitrated and aeromatic aerosols and nitrated aromatic gases as sources of ultraviolet light absorption ( J. Geophys. Res. , 1999)
• A physically-based treatment of elemental carbon optics: Implications for global direct forcing of aerosols ( Geophys. Res. Lett. , 2000)
• Global direct radiative forcing due to multicomponent anthropogenic and natural aerosols ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2001)
• Strong radiative heating due to the mixing state of black carbon in atmospheric aerosols ( Nature , 2001)
• Control of fossil-fuel particulate black carbon plus organic matter, possibly the most effective method of slowing global warming ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2002)
• The effect on photochemical smog of converting the U.S. fleet of gasoline vehicles to modern diesel vehicles ( Geophys. Res. Lett. , 2004)
• The short-term cooling but long-term global warming due to biomass burning ( J. Climate , 2004)
• The climate response of fossil-fuel and biofuel soot, accounting for soot’s feedback to snow and sea ice albedo and emissivity ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2004)
• Effects of externally-through-internally-mixed soot inclusions within clouds and precipitation on global climate ( J. Phys. Chem. , 2006)
• The influence of future anthropogenic emissions on climate, natural emissions, and air quality ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2009)
• Short-term effects of controlling fossil-fuel soot, biofuel soot and gases, and methane on climate, Arctic ice, and air pollution health ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2010)
• Microphysical and radiative effects of aerosols on warm clouds during the Amazon biomass burning season as observed by MODIS: impacts of water vapor and land cover ( Atmos. Chem. Phys. , 2011))
• Comparing results from a physical model with satellite and in situ observations to determine whether biomass burning aerosols over the Amazon brighten or burn off clouds ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2012)
• The effects of rerouting aircraft around the Arctic Circle on Arctic and global climate ( Climatic Change , 2012)
• Investigating cloud absorption effects: Global absorption properties of black carbon, tar balls, and soil dust in clouds and aerosols ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2012)
• The effects of aircraft on climate and pollution. Part II: 20-year impacts of exhaust from all commercial aircraft worldwide treated individually at the subgrid scale ( Faraday Discussions , 2013)
• Effects of biomass burning on climate, accounting for heat and moisture fluxes, black and brown carbon, and cloud absorption effects ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2014)
• Particulate filters for combustion engines to mitigate global warming. Estimating the effects of a highly efficient but underutilized tool ( Emission Control Science and Technology , 2024)
• Recent shift from forest to savanna burning in the Amazon basin observed from satellite ( Environmental Research Letters , 2012)
• Effects of soil moisture on temperatures, winds, and pollutant concentrations in Los Angeles ( J. Applied Met. , 1999)
• GATOR-GCMM: A global-through urban scale air pollution and weather forecast model. 1. Model design and treatment of subgrid soil, vegetation, roads, rooftops, water, sea ice, and snow ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2001)
• The short-term effects of agriculture on air pollution and climate in California ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2008) .
• Effects of urban surfaces and white roofs on global and regional climate ( J. Climate , 2012)
• Ring of impact from the mega-urbanization of Beijing between 2000 and 2009 ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2015)
• Short-term impacts of the mega-urbanizations of New Delhi and Los Angeles between 2000 and 2009 ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2019)
• Analysis of emission data from global commercial aviation: 2004 and 2006 ( Atmos. Chem. Phys. , 2010)
• Parameterization of subgrid plume dilution for use in large-scale atmospheric simulations ( Atmos. Chem. Phys. , 2010)
• Large eddy simulations of contrail development: Sensitivity to initial and ambient conditions over first twenty minutes ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2011)
• Vertical mixing of commercial aviation emissions from cruise altitude to the surface ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2011)
• The effects of aircraft on climate and pollution. Part I: Numerical methods for treating the subgrid evolution of discrete size- and composition-resolved contrails from all commercial flights worldwide ( J. Comp. Phys. , 2011)
• Effects of plume-scale versus grid-scale treatment of aircraft exhaust photochemistry ( Geophys. Res. Lett. , 2013)
• An inter-comparative study of the effects of aircraft emissions on surface air quality ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2017)
• Evolution of nanoparticle size and mixing state near the point of emission ( Atmospheric Environment , 2004)
• Enhanced coagulation due to evaporation and its effect on nanoparticle evolution ( Environmental Science & Technology , 2005))
• Development and application of a new air pollution modeling system. Part I: Gas-phase simulations ( Atmospheric Environment , 1996)
• Development and application of a new air pollution modeling system. Part II: Aerosol-module structure and design ( Atmospheric Environment , 1997)
• Development and application of a new air pollution modeling system. Part III: Aerosol-phase simulations ( Atmospheric Environment , 1997)
• GATOR-GCMM: 2. A study of day- and nighttime ozone layers aloft, ozone in national parks, and weather during the SARMAP field campaign ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2001) .
• Examining feedbacks of aerosols to urban climate with a model that treats 3-D clouds with aerosol inclusions ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2007) .
• Effects of soil moisture on temperatures, winds, and pollutant concentrations in Los Angeles ( J. Applied Meteorology , 1999)
• Wind reduction by aerosol particles ( Geophys. Res. Letters , 2006)
• Effects of ethanol (E85) versus gasoline vehicles on cancer and mortality in the United States ( Environ. Sci. & Technol. , 2007)
• Effects of wind-powered hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on stratospheric ozone and global climate ( Geophys. Res. Lett. , 2008) .
• The enhancement of local air pollution by urban CO2 domes ( Environ. Sci. & Technol. , 2010) .
• Global-through-urban nested three-dimensional simulation of air pollution with a 13,600-reaction photochemical mechanism ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2010)
• SMVGEAR: A sparse-matrix, vectorized Gear code for atmospheric models ( Atmospheric Environment , 1994)
• Computation of global photochemistry with SMVGEAR II ( Atmospheric Environment , 1995) .
• Improvement of SMVGEAR II on vector and scalar machines through absolute error tolerance control ( Atmospheric Environment , 1998)
• Modeling coagulation among particles of different composition and size ( Atmospheric Environment , 1995)
• Simulating condensational growth, evaporation, and coagulation of aerosols using a combined moving and stationary size grid ( Aerosol Science & Technology , 1995)
• Numerical techniques to solve condensational and dissolutional growth equations when growth is coupled to reversible reactions ( Aerosol Science & Technology , 1997)
• Enhanced coagulation due to evaporation and its effect on nanoparticle evolution ( Environmental Science & Technology , 2005)
• Simulating equilibrium within aerosols and nonequilibrium between gases and aerosols ( J. Geophys. Res. , 1996)
• Studying the effect of calcium and magnesium on size-distributed nitrate and ammonium with EQUISOLV II ( Atmospheric Environment , 1999)
• A solution to the problem of nonequilibrium acid/base gas-particle transfer at long time step ( Aerosol Science & Technology , 2005)
• Studying the effects of aerosols on vertical photolysis rate coefficient and temperature profiles over an urban airshed ( J. Geophys. Res. , 1998)
• Isolating nitrated and aeromatic aerosols and nitrated aromatic gases as sources of ultraviolet light absorption (1999)
• A refined method of parameterizing absorption coefficients among multiple gases simultaneously from line-by-line data ( J. Atmos. Sci. , 2005)
• Analysis of aerosol interactions with numerical techniques for solving coagulation, nucleation, condensation, dissolution, and reversible chemistry among multiple size distributions ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2002)
• Development of mixed-phase clouds from multiple aerosol size distributions and the effect of the clouds on aerosol removal ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2003)
• A mass, energy, vorticity, and potential enstrophy conserving lateral fluid-land boundary scheme for the shallow water equations ( J. Comp. Phys. , 2009)
• A mass, energy, vorticity, and potential enstrophy conserving lateral boundary scheme for the shallow water equations using piecewise linear boundary approximations ( J. Comp. Phys. , 2011)
• Numerical solution to drop coalescence/breakup with a volume-conserving, positive-definite, and unconditionally-stable scheme ( J. Atmos. Sci. , 2011)
• Studying ocean acidification with conservative, stable numerical schemes for nonequilibrium air-ocean exchange and ocean equilibrium chemistry ( J. Geophys. Res. , 2005)
• Coupling of highly explicit gas and aqueous chemistry mechanisms for use in 3-D ( Atmospheric Environment , 2012)

Features of GATOR-GCMOM, the model used for the above studies

Current PhD Graduate Students:

• Kirat Singh

Graduate Student Alumni:

• Cristina Lozej Archer
• Mary Cameron
• Mike Dvorak
• Frank Freedman
• Bethany Frew
• Ann Fridlind
• Elaine Hart
• Yves (Meyer) Gulda
• Diana (Ginnebaugh) Gragg
• Scott Katalenich
• Gerard Ketefian
• Alice (Ryan) Mount
• Daniel J. Sambor
• Ana E. Sandoval
• Eena Sta. Maria
• Eric Stoutenburg
• Amy L. Stuart
• John Ten Hoeve
• Anna-Katharina von Krauland
• Jordan Wilkerson

Current Postdoctoral Researchers:

Postdoctoral Researcher Alumni:

• Whitney Colella
• Jinyou Liang
• CEE 063/263C Weather and Storms
• CEE 064/263D Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science, and Solutions
• CEE 263A Air Pollution Modeling
• Testimony to U.S. House Committee on Black Carbon and Global Warming, October 18, 2007
• Testimony to U.S. House Committee on Air Pollution Health Impacts of Carbon Dioxide, April 9, 2008
• Testimony to U.S. EPA to Reconsider a Denied Waiver to Allow California’s Control of Carbon Dioxide, March 5, 2009
• Testimony to U.S. EPA on Proposed Endangerment Finding, May 18, 2009
• TED Debate on Renewables Versus Nuclear February 10, 2010, and Worldwide Health Effects of Fukushima
• Interview on Late Show with David Letterman, October 9, 2013
• Testimony to U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee on Transitioning U.S. & World to 100% Clean, Renewable Energy, Nov. 19, 2015
• MSNBC Interview on why 100% Wind-Water-Solar and Green New Deal cut consumer costs and unemployment ( Op-Ed )( Graphic )

Civil Engineering

Main navigation, 2023-24 civil engineering ug degree programs (ce-bs, bas, bash, bsh, secondary, minor).

— ABET ACCREDITATION CRITERIA APPLY —

Civil engineers plan, design, construct and sustain the built environment including buildings and bridges, energy and water systems, and coasts and waterways.  Civil engineers work to protect society from natural catastrophes and risks, such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and sea-level rise, as well as help to manage our natural resources

As their work is crucial to the day-to-day lives of most people, civil engineers bear an important responsibility to the public. The civil engineering field is both technical and people-oriented, requiring excellent communication skills and an ability to manage both people and multi-faceted projects. Students in the major learn to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and the primary areas of civil engineering to conduct experiments, design systems to solve engineering problems, and communicate their ideas effectively to the scientific community.

UG Director : Greg Deierlein, [email protected] Student Services : Jill Filice, 316 Y2E2,  [email protected] Departmental Chair : Sarah Billington, 313 Y2E2, [email protected]

For instructions on how to declare the Civil Engineering major,  jump to the bottom of this page .

Objectives and Outcomes for Civil Engineering

Objectives: Graduates of the civil engineering program are expected within a few years of graduation to have the ability to:

• Establish themselves as practicing professionals in civil engineering or a related field
• Pursue graduate study in civil engineering or other fields
• Work effectively as responsible professionals independently or in teams handling increasingly complex professional and societal expectations
• an ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics
• an ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors
• an ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences
• an ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts
• an ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives
• an ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze, and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions
• an ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.

Planning Sheets

CE Program Sheets

CE Flowchart

CE 4-Year Plans

CE 4-Year Plans for Going Abroad

The Curriculum

The undergraduate civil engineering curriculum includes a core to be taken by all declared majors that provides a broad introduction to the major areas of civil engineering. Subsequent coursework is grouped into 7 focus areas, allowing students to tailor their studies to align with their interests. Undergraduates potentially interested in the Civil Engineering major should also consider the Environmental Systems Engineering major as a possible alternative; a comparison of these two alternative majors is presented in the  Environmental Systems Engineering  page.

For more information on civil engineering, students are encouraged to visit the  CEE website , talk to a CEE faculty member, or contact the CEE Student Services Specialist, Jill Filice, in room 316 of the Jerry Yang and Akiko Yamazaki Environment & Energy (Y2E2) Building.

Research Experience for Undergraduates

The department of Civil and Environmental Engineering welcomes student participation in the VPUE Undergraduate Research Programs. Interested students should check the  VPUE  website and the  CEE  website for announcements regarding the application procedures. Annual program announcements appear in January with application due dates in February.

Exploring Civil Engineering as a Major

Are you wondering whether a Civil Engineering major is for you? If so, here are some courses accessible early in your undergraduate career that will help you explore your interest in our major. If you end up joining our program, this early start on fulfilling requirements will pay off by giving you more flexibility in class scheduling for your junior and senior years.

1-The following electives are accessible to frosh/sophomores, and can count towards the major:

CEE 41Q: Clean Water Now! Urban Water Conflicts  (3, W; Soph Introsem) CEE 63: Weather and Storms (3 units, A)

CEE 64: Air Pollution and Global Warming: History, Science & Solutions (3 units, W)

CEE 80N: Engineering the Built Environment: Intro to Structural Engr (3, A; Freshman Introsem) CEE 83: Seismic Design Workshop (A)

CEE 107A: Understanding Energy (3 units, A, S)  (or CEE107S, 3 units, Sum) CEE 120A: Building Modeling for Design and Construction (3 units, A, Sum) CEE 131C: How Buildings Are Made: Materiality and Construction Methods (4 units, S) CEE 162F: Coastal Processes (prereq: PHYSICS 41) (3 units, W)

2-For an introduction to Civil Engineering, classes required for all of our declared majors that are readily accessible to you are

Requirements: Civil Engineering Major

Mathematics and science (45 units minimum).

*Approved as science classes only for the CE major.

‡ Required for depth focus in Structural Engineering and Mechanics, Construction Engineering, Urban Systems, Energy and Climate, or Sensing, Analytics, and Control

‡vRequired for depth focus in Environmental Fluid Mechanics and Hydrology or Environmental Quality Engineering

Technology in Society (this course required):

CEE 102A Legal/Ethical Principles in Design, Construction, and Project Delivery, 3 units, W

Engineering Fundamentals (2 Courses minimum)

• ENGR 14 Introduction to Solid Mechanics 3 units, A, W, S
• ENGR 90 Environmental Science and Technology (same as CEE 70) 3 units, W

Engineering Depth

At least 68 units of Fundamental + Depth courses are required by ABET and by the Department.

Required Core Courses (17-19 units)

Focus area electives (at least 30 units).

(1) To satisfy ABET criteria, students MUST choose at least TWO of the following 4 classes: CEE 101A, 101B, 101C, and 101D. CEE 101A, 101B, and/or 101C will count as Focus Area Electives. CEE 101D may count either as a Focus Area Elective, or as a Required Core Course (replacing CS 106A).

(2) Students must take at least 12 units in one focus area as their depth area.  Students must also take at least 6 units each in 3 other  focus areas for breadth. Courses cannot double-count. 

Classes important for professional licensing are marked with *; classes needed as preparation for coterm studies in CEE are marked with a # – see bottom of next page for more details.

Structural Engineering & Mechanics Focus

Environmental fluid mechanics and hydrology focus, construction engineering focus, energy and climate focus, environmental quality engineering focus, sensing, analytics, and control focus, urban systems focus.

* The first step towards professional licensing is the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam. To prepare for a career as a practicing civil or environmental engineer, your elective choices should prepare you for at least one of these choices of FE exam:

Civil FE: CEE 101A, 101C, 180, 182 Environmental FE: CEE 101B, 166B, 172, 174B, 177 (or 170). General FE: Physics 43, CEE 101A, 101B; ENGR 15 (which may count under Other Electives)

# If you are aiming to apply to a CEE coterm program, your elective choices should include, at minimum: Atmosphere/Energy: CEE 64, 107A Environmental Engineering: CEE 101B, 177 (or 170) Structural Engineering & Mechanics: CEE 101A, 101C, 180, 182 SDC (Sustainable Design & Construction) – Energy: CEE 120A, 156, 176A SDC – Management or SDC – Structures: CEE 101A, 101C, 180 SDC – Urban Systems:  CEE 120A, 141A, 155

OTHER ENGINEERING ELECTIVE COURSES (up to 15 UNITS)

Students must take at least 68 units of engineering science and design courses (Engineering Fundamentals + Core + Electives) in order to satisfy ABET and departmental requirements to graduate.  For the remaining engineering elective units: (1) Additional electives may be selected from the 7 focus areas listed above.  (2) The following additional Engineering Fundamental courses may count: ENGR 10, 15, 21, 25E, 40M (or 40A), and 50 (or 50E or 50M). (3) Students may also count up to 4 units of CEE199/199L in this category, and the following introductory CEE classes: CEE 41Q, CEE 80N, and CEE 83.  (4) Students seeking to count an engineering elective course not covered in (1), (2) or (3) must petition the CEE Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, requesting confirmation that the course will satisfy ABET requirements, (by emailing [email protected] ).  Some CEE courses do not satisfy ABET requirements, for example:  CEE 31, 102W and 151.

Coterm Deadlines and Contact

Instructions for declaring a major in civil engineering.

• Enter your major declaration as Civil Engineering in Axess.
• Download and complete the Excel major  Program Sheet   
• To open a new program sheet, start by choosing the academic year for the major you wish to use (Example: 2020-21 or 2021-22; must be from a year you are matriculated at SU)
• Be sure and list all courses already taken and those you plan to take -- you will have the opportunity to revise this later, so please fill in as many courses as you can and print out.
• Email your Stanford transcript (unofficial is fine) and completed program sheet to Jill Filice, CEE Student Services, [email protected] , and request to have a CEE major faculty advisor assigned to you. You may request a specific advisor if you wish. Office hours are 10 a.m. to noon and 2 to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. 
• Schedule a Zoom meeting with your CEE major faculty adviser and email them your program sheet and unofficial transcript so that you may both review your course study plan, and so that they may approve/sign off on your program sheet.
• Email your signed program sheet to Jill Filice ( [email protected] ), who upon receiving your signed sheet will approve your major declaration in Axess.
• You are encouraged to meet with your CEE undergraduate adviser at least once a quarter to review your academic progress. Changes to your program sheet can be made by printing out a revised sheet, obtaining your undergraduate adviser’s signature, and returning the approved sheet to the CEE Student Services Office. NOTE: Be sure to revise your program sheet, print, and have signed by your advisor during your senior year and at least one quarter prior to graduation.
• Other Information:
• Procedures for requesting transfer credits and program deviations are described in detail in  Petitions . The online forms may be filled out electronically. If you are requesting transfer credits or program deviations, you should bring your completed petition form with your transcript to the CEE Student Services office. Attach your program sheet on file in CEE.
• Check with the CEE Student Services Office to make sure that you are on the CEE undergraduate student email list for important announcements about department events and activities.

50 Best Colleges for Civil Engineering – 2024

April 10, 2024

Not an election cycle goes by where we do not hear laments about America’s crumbling infrastructure. The heroes-in-waiting ready to design and oversee the construction of the next generation of bridges, roads, airports, sewage systems, and public buildings are civil engineers. Population growth and the continued deterioration of existing structures and systems means that degree earners in this field will continue to find employment opportunities into the foreseeable future. Graduates of the programs that cracked our list of Best Colleges for Civil Engineering emerge with the requisite skills and credentials needed to launch their careers.

Salary Information

Want to know how much money graduates of the best civil engineering colleges make when they begin their careers? For each college listed (and hundreds of additional schools), you can view the starting salaries for civil engineering majors .

Best Colleges for Civil Engineering

Here’s a quick preview of the first civil engineering institutions that made our list. Detailed profiles including academic-oriented and outcomes-based facts and stats can be found when you scroll below.

1) Princeton University

2) Georgia Institute of Technology

3) University of California-Berkeley

4) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

5) Purdue University-Main Campus

6) Massachusetts Institute of Technology

7) Columbia University

8) Rice University

9) Virginia Tech

10) Texas A & M University-College Station

All of the schools profiled below have stellar reputations in the field of civil engineering and commit substantial resources to undergraduate education. For each of the best civil engineering colleges, College Transitions will provide you with—when available—the university’s:

• Cost of Attendance
• Acceptance Rate
• Median  SAT
• Median  ACT
• Retention Rate
• Graduation Rate

We will also include a longer write-up of each college’s:

• Academic Highlights – Includes facts like student-to-faculty ratio, average class size, number of majors offered, and most popular majors.
• Professional Outcomes – Includes info on the rate of positive outcomes, companies employing alumni, and graduate school acceptances.

Princeton University

• Princeton, NJ

Academic Highlights: 39 majors are available at Princeton. Just under three-quarters of class sections have an enrollment of 19 or fewer students, and 31% have fewer than ten students. Princeton is known for its commitment to undergraduate teaching, and students consistently rate professors as accessible and helpful. The Engineering Department is widely recognized as one of the country’s best, as is the School of Public and International Affairs.

Professional Highlights: Over 95% of a typical Tiger class finds their next destination within six months of graduating. Large numbers of recent grads flock to the fields of business and engineering, health/science, & tech. Companies presently employing hundreds of Tiger alumni include Google, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, McKinsey & Company, Morgan Stanley, IBM, and Meta. The average salary ranges from $40k (education, health care, or social services) to $100k (computer/mathematical positions). Between 15-20% of graduating Tigers head directly to graduate/professional school.

• Enrollment: 5,604 (undergraduate); 3,238 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $86,700
• Median SAT: 1540
• Median ACT: 35
• Acceptance Rate: 6%
• Retention Rate: 97%
• Graduation Rate: 98%

Georgia Institute of Technology

• Atlanta, GA

Academic Highlights: Georgia Tech’s engineering and computer science programs are at the top of any “best programs” list. Being a large research university, the student-to-faculty ratio is a less-than-ideal 22:1, leading to some larger undergraduate class sections. In fact, 49% of courses had enrollments of more than thirty students in 2022-23. On the other end of the spectrum, 8% of sections had single-digit enrollments. In terms of total number of degrees conferred, the most popular areas of study are engineering (51%), computer science (21%), and business (9%).

Professional Outcomes: More than three-quarters of recent grads had already procured employment by the time they were handed their diplomas. You will find graduates at every major technology company in the world. The median salary reported by that group was $80,000. Many remain on campus to earn advanced engineering degrees through Georgia Tech, but the school’s reputation is such that gaining admission into other top programs including MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Berkeley, Stanford, and Caltech.

• Enrollment: 18,416
• Cost of Attendance: $29,950 (In-State); $52,120 (Out-of-State)
• Median SAT: 1470
• Median ACT: 33
• Acceptance Rate: 17%
• Retention Rate: 98%
• Graduation Rate: 93%

University of California, Berkeley

• Berkeley, CA

Academic Highlights: More than 150 undergraduate majors and minors are available across six schools: the College of Letters and Science, the College of Chemistry, the College of Engineering, the College of Environmental Design, the College of Natural Resources, and the Haas School of Business. Many departments have top international reputations including computer science, engineering, chemistry, English, psychology, and economics. 22% of sections contain nine or fewer students, and over 55% of students assist faculty with a research project or complete a research methods course.

Professional Outcomes: Upon graduating, 49% of Cal’s Class of 2022 had already secured employment, and 20% were headed to graduate school. Business is the most popular sector, attracting 62% of employed grads; next up are industrial (17%), education (8%), and nonprofit work (7%). The median starting salary was $86,459 across all majors. Thousands of alumni can be found in the offices of Google, Apple, and Meta, and 500+ Golden Bears are currently employed by Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft. The school is the number one all-time producer of Peace Corps volunteers.

• Enrollment: 32,831 (undergraduate); 12,914 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $48,574 (in-state); $82,774 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: Test Blind
• Median ACT: Test Blind
• Acceptance Rate: 11%
• Retention Rate: 96%
• Graduation Rate: 94%

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Champaign-Urbana, IL

Academic Highlights: Eight of UIUC’s fifteen schools cater to undergraduate students. There are 150 academic programs offered, including those at the acclaimed Grainger College of Engineering and Gies College of Business. In sheer volume of degrees conferred, engineering and business/marketing are tied at 19%, followed by the social sciences (9%) and psychology (6%). 39% of sections are capped at 19 students. 29% of undergraduates work with a faculty member on a research project; another 22% have some type of fieldwork, practicum, or clinical experience.

Professional Outcomes: 95% of the members of the Class of 2022 landed at their next destination within six months of graduation, with 38% matriculating directly into an advanced degree program. 57% were employed full-time; the most popular sectors were finance, consulting, healthcare, electronics, and education. Corporations landing the most recent Illini grads were KPMG, Deloitte, Epic Systems, EY, PwC, and Amazon. The average salary across all Class of 2022 majors was an extremely solid $75,000.

• Enrollment: 35,120 (undergraduate); 21,796 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $35,926-$41,190 (in-state); $55,386-$63,290 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1440
• Median ACT: 32
• Acceptance Rate: 79%
• Retention Rate: 93%
• Graduation Rate: 85%

Purdue University — West Lafayette

• West Lafayette, IN

Academic Highlights: Purdue offers over 200 majors at ten discipline-specific colleges, and 38% of course sections have an enrollment of 19 or fewer. Engineering and engineering technologies majors earn 34% of the degrees conferred by the university; the College of Engineering cracks the top ten on almost every list of best engineering schools. The Krannert School of Management is also well-regarded by employers; 11% of degrees conferred are in business. Other popular majors include computer science (10%) and agriculture (5%)—both are incredibly strong.

Professional Outcomes: Shortly after receiving their diplomas, 70% of 2022 grads headed to the world of employment while 24% headed to graduate/professional school. The top industries entered by grads in recent years are (1) health care, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices; (2) finance, insurance, and consulting; (3) manufacturing and machinery; (4) airline, aviation, and aerospace. Companies employing the greatest number of recent alumni were Amazon, Deloitte, PepsiCo, Labcorp, Lockheed Martin, and Microsoft. The average starting salary was $68k across all degree programs.

• Enrollment: 37,949 (undergraduate); 12,935 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $22,812 (in-state); $41,614 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1330
• Median ACT: 31
• Acceptance Rate: 53%
• Retention Rate: 91%
• Graduation Rate: 84%

• Cambridge, MA

Academic Highlights: Undergraduates pursue one of 57 majors and 59 minors at this world-class research institution that continues to be one of the world’s most magnetic destinations for math and science geniuses.  The student-to-faculty ratio is an astonishing 3-to-1, and over two-fifths of all class sections have single-digit enrollments, and 70% of courses contain fewer than twenty students. The highest numbers of degrees conferred in 2022 were in the following majors: engineering (31%), computer science and engineering (28%), mathematics (10%), and the physical sciences (7%).

Professional Outcomes: The Class of 2023 saw 29% of its members enter the world of employment and 43% continue on their educational paths. The top employers included Accenture, Amazon, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Google, General Motors, the US Navy, Apple, Bain & Company, and McKinsey. The mean starting salary for an MIT bachelor’s degree holder was $95,000. The most frequently attended graduate schools are a who’s who of elite institutions including MIT itself, Stanford, Caltech, Harvard, and the University of Oxford.

• Enrollment: 4,657
• Cost of Attendance: $82,730
• Median SAT: 1550
• Acceptance Rate: 4%
• Retention Rate: 99%
• Graduation Rate: 95%

Columbia University

• New York, NY

Academic Highlights: Columbia offers 100+ unique areas of undergraduate study as well as a number of pre-professional and accelerated graduate programs.  Class sizes at Columbia are reasonably small and the student-to-faculty ratio is favorable; however, in 2022, it was revealed that the university had been submitting faulty data in this area. It is presently believed that 58% of undergraduate courses enroll 19 or fewer students. The greatest number of degrees are conferred in the social sciences (22%), computer science (15%), engineering (14%), and biology (7%).

Professional Outcomes: Examining the most recent graduates from Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Science, 73% had found employment within six months, and 20% had entered graduate school. The median starting salary for graduates of Columbia College/Columbia Engineering is above $80,000. Many graduates get hired by the likes of Amazon, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Google, Citi, McKinsey, and Microsoft.

• Enrollment: 8,832
• Cost of Attendance: $89,587

Rice University

• Houston, TX

Academic Highlights : Rice offers more than 50 majors across six broad disciplines: engineering, architecture, music, social science, humanities, and natural science. Programs in biology, biochemistry, cognitive science, and music are incredibly strong, while the School of Architecture and the George R. Brown School of Engineering are among the highest-ranking schools in their disciplines. One-third of computer science majors are female, almost twice the national average. Class sizes are ideally small with 66% containing fewer than 20 students and a median class size of only fourteen.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after graduation, 88% of Rice grads have found careers or a graduate school home. Companies that employ many recent grads include Deloitte, Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, Google, and Microsoft. Over one hundred alumni are also current employees of companies such as Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Amazon, Accenture, and Meta. Across all majors, the average starting salary is $73k. One-third of graduates move directly into graduate or professional school, with Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, and Berkeley being the most popular destinations.

• Enrollment: 4,494 (undergraduate); 4,178 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $78,278
• Median SAT: 1530
• Median SAT: 35
• Acceptance Rate: 9%
• Retention Rate: 94%

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

• Blacksburg, VA

Academic Highlights : Eight undergraduate colleges that offer 110+ distinct bachelor’s degrees are housed within Virginia Tech. 33% of sections contain fewer than 20 students, and 21% of recent graduates report participating in some type of undergraduate research experience. Engineering is the area where the greatest number of degrees are conferred (23%), but business (20%) is a close second. Both disciplines are among the most respected at Tech, along with computer science. Other popular majors include the family and consumer sciences (8%), social sciences (8%), biology (8%), and agriculture (4%).

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 56% of the Class of 2022 were employed and 18% were in graduate school. One recent class sent large numbers to major corporations that included Deloitte (67), KPMG (44), Lockheed Martin (39), Capital One (30), EY (28), Booz Allen Hamilton (18), and Northrop Grumman (12). The median salary for 2022 graduates was $67,000. Among recent grads who decided to pursue an advanced degree, the greatest number stayed at VT, while others enrolled at Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University, William & Mary, Columbia, Duke, and Georgia Tech.

• Enrollment: 30,434 (undergraduate); 7,736 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $37,252 (in-state); $58,750 (out-of-state)
• Median ACT: 29
• Acceptance Rate: 57%
• Graduation Rate: 87%

Texas A&M University — College Station

• College Station, TX

Academic Highlights: With nineteen schools and colleges and 130+ undergraduate degree programs, Texas A&M is a massive operation. As the name implies, there is a heavy emphasis on agriculture, engineering, and business, which all place well in national rankings and garner deep respect from major corporations and graduate/professional schools. Class sizes trend large, but 24% of courses enroll fewer than 20 students and personal connections with professors are entirely possible, particularly through the research-oriented LAUNCH program.

Professional Outcomes: On graduation day, 54% of students had already received at least one job offer and 22% were heading to graduate/professional school. Many Aggies go on to work at major oil, tech, and consulting firms; more than 500 are employed at each of ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Chevron, EY, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, Accenture, and PWC. Starting salaries were strong—on average, College of Engineering grads made $80k and College of Agriculture & Life Sciences grads netted $54k. A&M is also the eighth-largest producer of law students in the entire country.

• Enrollment: 57,512 (undergraduate); 16,502 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $31,058 (in-state); $59,336 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1270
• Median ACT: 28
• Acceptance Rate: 63%
• Retention Rate: 95%

Stanford University

• Palo Alto, CA

Academic Highlights: Stanford has three undergraduate schools: the School of Humanities & Sciences, the School of Engineering, and the School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences. 69% of classes have fewer than twenty students, and 34% have a single-digit enrollment. Programs in engineering, computer science, physics, mathematics, international relations, and economics are arguably the best anywhere. In terms of sheer volume, the greatest number of degrees are conferred in the social sciences (17%), computer science (16%), engineering (15%), and interdisciplinary studies (13%).

Professional Outcomes: Stanford grads entering the working world flock to three major industries in equal distribution: business/finance/consulting/retail (19%); computer, IT (19%); and public policy and service, international affairs (19%). Among the companies employing the largest number of recent grads are Accenture, Apple, Bain, Cisco, Meta, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey, Microsoft, and SpaceX. Other companies that employ hundreds of Cardinal alums include LinkedIn, Salesforce, and Airbnb. Starting salaries for Stanford grads are among the highest in the country.

• Enrollment: 8,049 (undergraduate); 10,236 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $87,833

The University of Texas at Austin

Academic Highlights: UT Austin offers over 150 majors, including those at the Cockrell School of Engineering, one of the most heralded undergraduate engineering schools around, and The McCombs School of Business, which dominates in the specialty areas of accounting and marketing. The computer science department is also top-ranked. In terms of degrees conferred, engineering is tied with biology (12%) followed by communication (11%), business (11%), and the social sciences (8%). The elite Plan II Honors Program is one of the best in the country.

Professional Outcomes: Within the College of Liberal Arts, six months after graduating, 68% of Longhorns are employed and 24% have entered graduate school. The for-profit sector attracts 65% of those employed while 19% enter public sector employment and 16% pursue jobs at a nonprofit. Major corporations that employ more than 500 UT Austin grads include Google, Meta, Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple. Engineering majors took home a median income of $79k and business majors took home $70k.

• Enrollment: 41,309 (undergraduate); 11,075 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $30,752-$34,174 (in-state); $61,180-$69,310 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1430
• Acceptance Rate: 31%
• Graduation Rate: 88%

Cornell University

Academic Highlights: A diverse array of academic programs includes 80 majors and 120 minors spread across the university’s seven schools/colleges. Classes are a bit larger at Cornell than at many other elite institutions. Still, 55% of sections have fewer than 20 students. Most degrees conferred in 2022 were in computer science (17%), engineering (13%), business (13%), and biology (13%). The SC Johnson College of Business houses two undergraduate schools, both of which have phenomenal reputations.

Professional Outcomes: Breaking down the graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest school at Cornell, 68% entered the workforce, 28% entered graduate school, 1% pursued other endeavors such as travel or volunteer work, and the remaining 3% were still seeking employment six months after receiving their diplomas. The top sectors attracting campus-wide graduateswere financial services (18%), technology (17%), consulting (15%), and education (10%). Of the students from A&S going on to graduate school, 15% were pursuing JDs, 5% MDs, and 22% PhDs.

• Enrollment: 15,735
• Cost of Attendance: $88,150
• Median SAT: 1520
• Median ACT: 34
• Acceptance Rate: 7%

Carnegie Mellon University

• Pittsburgh, PA

Academic Highlights: There are a combined 80+ undergraduate majors and 90 minors available across the six schools. Impressively, particularly for a school with more graduate students than undergrads, CMU boasts a 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio and small class sizes, with 36% containing single digits. In a given school year, 800+ undergraduates conduct research through the University Research Office. The most commonly conferred degrees are in engineering (21%), computer science (16%), mathematics (12%), business (10%), and visual and performing arts (9%).

Professional Outcomes: By the end of the calendar year in which they received their diplomas, 66% of 2022 grads were employed, and 28% were continuing to graduate school. The companies that have routinely scooped up CMU grads include Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Accenture, McKinsey, and Deloitte. With an average starting salary of $105,194, CMU grads outpace the average starting salary for a college grad nationally. Of those pursuing graduate education, around 20% typically enroll immediately in PhD programs.

• Enrollment: 7,509
• Cost of Attendance: $84,412
• Graduation Rate: 92%

Johns Hopkins University

• Baltimore, MD

Academic Highlights: With 53 majors as well as 51 minors, JHU excels in everything from its bread-and-butter medical-related majors to international relations and dance. Boasting an enviable 6:1 student-to-faculty ratio and with 78% of course sections possessing an enrollment under 20, face time with professors is a reality. Many departments carry a high level of clout, including biomedical engineering, chemistry, English, and international studies. Biology, neuroscience, and computer science, which happen to be the three most popular majors, can also be found at the top of the national rankings.

Professional Outcomes: The Class of 2022 saw 94% of graduates successfully land at their next destination within six months of exiting the university; 66% of graduates entered the world of employment and a robust 19% went directly to graduate/professional school. The median starting salary across all majors was $80,000 for the Class of 2022. JHU itself is the most popular choice for graduate school. The next most frequently attended institutions included Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and MIT.

• Enrollment: 6,044
• Cost of Attendance: $86,065

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

• Terre Haute, IN

Academic Highlights: Rose-Hulman offers 22 undergraduate degree programs. The average class size is twenty, and 94% of sections are smaller than 29 students. The engineering major accounts for 66% of all degrees conferred, and there’s a good reason for its popularity; this program is viewed among the best by prospective employers and graduate schools nationwide. Unique undergraduate engineering programs include optical engineering and international computer science; CS, in general, is the second-most popular degree program (20%).

Professional Outcomes: With six months of exiting, an enviable 99% of 2022 grads had landed at their next destination, whether employment or graduate school. Top employers of recent graduates included Boston Scientific, Cook Group, Texas Instruments, Caterpillar, Honeywell, and Rolls Royce. Raytheon, Microsoft, and Eli Lilly also have a strong alumni representation. The average first-year salary across all majors was $80k; CS majors took home $89k. 21% of 2022 grads immediately enrolled in graduate school at universities like Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon, and Duke.

• Enrollment: 2,235 (undergraduate); 15 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $77,890
• Median SAT: 1460
• Acceptance Rate: 73%
• Graduation Rate: 82%

Northeastern University

Academic Highlights: Northeastern offers 290 majors and 180 combined majors within nine colleges and programs. Experiential learning is had by virtually all graduates, thanks to the school’s illustrious and robust co-op program. The D’Amore-McKim School of Business is a top-ranked school and offers one of the best international business programs anywhere, and both the College of Engineering and College of Computer Science are highly respected as well. Criminal justice, architecture, and nursing are three other majors that rate near the top nationally.

Professional Outcomes: Nine months after leaving Northeastern, 97% of students have landed at their next employment or graduate school destination. Huskies entering the job market are quickly rounded up by the likes of State Street, Fidelity Investments, IBM, and Amazon, all of whom employ 500+ Northeastern alums. Between 200 and 500 employees at Wayfair, Google, Amazon, Oracle, IBM, and Apple have an NU lineage. Starting salaries are above average (55% make more than $60k), in part due to the stellar co-op program.

• Enrollment: 20,980 (undergraduate); 15,826 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $86,821
• Median SAT: 1500
• Graduation Rate: 91%

University of Michigan

• Ann Arbor, MI

Academic Highlights: There are 280+ undergraduate degree programs across fourteen schools and colleges, and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts (LSA) enrolls the majority of students. The Ross School of Business offers highly rated programs in entrepreneurship, management, accounting, and finance. The College of Engineering is also one of the best in the country. By degrees conferred, engineering (15%), computer science (14%), and the social sciences (11%) are most popular. A solid 56% of classes have fewer than 20 students.

Professional Outcomes: Within three months of graduating, 89% of LSA grads are employed full-time or in graduate school, with healthcare, education, law, banking, research, nonprofit work, and consulting being the most popular sectors. Within three months, 99% of Ross grads are employed with a median salary of $90k. Top employers include Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, EY, Morgan Stanley, PwC, Deloitte, and Amazon.  Within six months, 96% of engineering grads are employed (average salary of $84k) or in grad school. General Motors, Ford, Google, Microsoft, Apple, and Meta employ the greatest number of alumni.

• Enrollment: 32,695 (undergraduate); 18,530 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $35,450 (in-state); $76,294 (out-of-state)
• Acceptance Rate: 18%

Duke University

Academic Highlights: The academic offerings at Duke include 53 majors, 52 minors, and 23 interdisciplinary certificates. Class sizes are on the small side—71% are nineteen or fewer, and almost one-quarter are less than ten. A stellar 5:1 student-to-faculty ratio helps keep classes so reasonable even while catering to five figures worth of graduate students. Computer Science is the most popular area of concentration (11%), followed by economics (10%), public policy (9%), biology (8%), and computer engineering (7%).

Professional Outcomes: At graduation, approximately 70% of Duke diploma-earners enter the world of work, 20% continue into graduate schools, and 2% start their own businesses. The industries that attract the largest percentage of Blue Devils are tech (21%), finance (15%), business (15%), healthcare (9%), and science/research (6%). Of the 20% headed into graduate school, a hefty 22% are attending medical school, 18% are in PhD programs, and 12% are entering law school. The med school acceptance rate is 85%, more than twice the national average.

• Enrollment: 6,640
• Cost of Attendance: $85,238
• SAT Range: 1490-1570
• ACT Range: 34-35
• Graduation Rate: 97%

Northwestern University

• Evanston, IL

Academic Highlights : Northwestern is home to six undergraduate schools, including Medill, which is widely regarded as one of the country’s best journalism schools. The McCormick School of Engineering also achieves top rankings, along with programs in economics, social policy, and theatre. The social sciences account for the greatest number of degrees conferred (19%), followed by communications/journalism (13%), and engineering (11%). 45% of classes have nine or fewer students enrolled; 78% have fewer than twenty enrollees. 57% of recent grads had the chance to conduct undergraduate research.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after graduating, 69% of the Class of 2022 had found employment and 27% were in graduate school. The four most popular professional fields were consulting (18%), engineering (18%), business/finance (16%), and communications/marketing/media (13%). Employers included the BBC, NBC News, The Washington Post , NPR, Boeing, Google, IBM, Deloitte, PepsiCo, Northrop Grumman, and Goldman Sachs. Across all majors, the average starting salary was $73k. Of those headed straight to graduate school, engineering, medicine, and business were the three most popular areas of concentration.

• Enrollment: 8,659 (undergraduate); 14,073 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $91,290

University of Notre Dame

• Notre Dame, IN

Academic Highlights: 75 majors are offered across six undergraduate colleges: the School of Architecture, the College of Arts and Letters, the Mendoza School of Business (one of the country’s best business schools), the College of Engineering, the Keough School of Global Affairs, and the College of Science. In 2022, the most degrees were conferred in business (20%), the social sciences (18%), engineering (12%), and biology (8%). A solid 60% of courses enroll fewer than 20 students, and 15% have single-digit numbers. 75% of Notre Dame undergrads study abroad.

Professional Outcomes: 69% of 2022 grads directly entered the world of employment, with the most common industries being financial services (21%), consulting (17%), technology (12%), and health services (9%). Massive numbers of alumni can be found at Deloitte, EY, PwC, IBM, Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and McKinsey & Co. The median early-career salary was $76,000. Of the 20% of grads who went directly into their graduate/professional studies, 18% were pursuing medical degrees and 9% were studying law.

• Enrollment: 8,971 (undergraduate); 4,134 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $86,125
• Acceptance Rate: 13%
• Graduation Rate: 96%

United States Coast Guard Academy

• New London, CT

Academic Highlights: Nine majors are offered: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Cyber Systems, Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Operations Research and Data Analytics, Marine and Environmental Sciences, Management, and Government. All cadets complete a liberal arts-based core curriculum. Each program is meant to hone the practical and technical skills necessary to handle a wide range of situations as future Coast Guard officers. The student-to-faculty ratio is 7:1, and 61% of classes have fewer than 20 students.

Professional Outcomes: Upon graduation, all cadets are commissioned as officers in the US Coast Guard, where they must serve for a total of 5 years (85% remain in the Coast Guard for longer than that). 90% of new ensigns dive into roles as Deck Watch Officers or Engineers in Training. The remaining 10% head to flight school or operational shore units. Post-military, Coast Guard vets are highly sought after; top employers include Booz Allen Hamilton, NOAA, Deloitte, and FEMA as well as other government entities such as the Department of Homeland Security. 80% ultimately attend graduate school.

• Enrollment: 1,037
• Cost of Attendance: $0
• Median SAT: 1260
• Acceptance Rate: 15%
• Graduation Rate: 86%

University of Florida

• Gainesville, FL

Academic Highlights: With 16 colleges and 100 undergraduate majors to choose from, educational experiences are exceptionally diverse. The Warrington College of Business and the Wertheim College of Engineering are highly respected, so it’s no surprise that those two programs confer the greatest percentage of degrees—12% and 14%, respectively. Biology (11%), the social sciences (11%), and health professions (8%) are next in popularity. 53% of sections enroll fewer than 20 students, and 33% of students partake in an undergraduate research experience.

Professional Outcomes: By graduation day, 66% of the Class of 2022 had already procured a first job. The top occupational areas were engineering (13%), health care (13%), computer science (5%), and marketing (4%). 200+ Gator alumni can be found at top corporations like Google, EY, Raymond James, Deloitte, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, and PwC. The average salary for all 2022 grads was $69k, with a high of $100k for computer science majors. Of those pursuing advanced degrees, a master’s degree was the most popular pursuit (63%) followed by law school (11%).

• Enrollment: 34,552 (undergraduate); 20,659 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $23,530 (in-state); $45,808 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1400
• Acceptance Rate: 23%
• Graduation Rate: 90%

University of California, Los Angeles

• Los Angeles, CA

Academic Highlights: UCLA offers 125 majors in 100+ academic departments, and more than 60 majors require a capstone experience that results in the creation of a tangible product under the mentorship of faculty members. The most commonly conferred degrees are in the social sciences (25%), biology (16%), psychology (11%), mathematics (8%), and engineering (7%). Departmental rankings are high across the board, especially in computer science, engineering, film, fine and performing arts, mathematics, and political science.

Professional Outcomes: UCLA grads flow most heavily into the research, finance, computer science, and engineering sectors. High numbers of recent grads can be found at Disney, Google, EY, Teach for America, Amazon, and Oracle. Hundreds also can be found at Bloomberg, Deloitte, Mattel, Oracle, and SpaceX. The average starting salary exceeds $55,000. 16% of recent grads enrolled directly in a graduate/professional school, with other CA-based institutions like Stanford, Pepperdine, USC, Berkeley, and Loyola Marymount being the most popular.

• Enrollment: 33,040 (undergraduate); 15,010 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $38,517 (in-state); $71,091 (out-of-state)

United States Military Academy

• West Point, NY

Academic Highlights: There are 37 majors at West Point, and students must conquer a minimum of 13 courses within their area of study as well as 24-27 courses in West Point’s core academic program. Almost 98% of class sections at West Point enroll fewer than 20 students, and plenty of research opportunities exist within each department. West Point is one of the best undergraduate engineering colleges in the country and has standout programs in civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering.

Professional Outcomes: West Point graduates must honor their eight-year military commitment (five years of active duty, three in the reserves), and many continue their military careers beyond those requirements. When they do enter the workforce, large numbers of alumni land at Amazon, Microsoft, Deloitte, Meta, Google, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs, with mean mid-career pay in excess of $125,000. With military duties to fulfill, only a small percentage of cadets matriculate directly into graduate programs.

• Enrollment: 4,393
• Median SAT: 1350
• Median ACT: 30
• Acceptance Rate: 12%

United States Air Force Academy

• USAF Academy, CO

Academic Highlights: There are 32 majors, including seven with “engineering” in the title. That works out well as the Air Force Academy runs one of the premier undergraduate engineering programs in the entire country. One-third of degrees conferred in 2022 were in engineering followed by business (14%), the social sciences (13%), interdisciplinary studies (11%), and biology (6%). 66% of sections contain fewer than 20 students, and there are plenty of opportunities to participate in research at one of the 27 research centers and institutes.

Professional Outcomes: As with any service academy, the bulk of graduates spend a good portion of their careers within the armed forces. For USAFA grads, a minimum five-year commitment to the Air Force is mandatory. Many alumni spend time later in their careers working in the commercial airline industry at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines. Many also work for Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Lockheed Martin. Roughly 10% of new grads are cleared to immediately enter a graduate program in exchange for additional years of service.

• Enrollment: 4,085
• Graduation Rate: 89%

Lafayette College

Academic Highlights: Lafayette offers 51 areas of study over four academic divisions: engineering, humanities, natural sciences, and the social sciences. One-on-one attention from professors is a reality at Lafayette, thanks to a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio and no graduate students to compete with. A solid 62% of sections contain fewer than twenty students; 11% enroll nine or fewer. Of the degrees conferred in 2022, social sciences (34%) and engineering (19%) were the disciplines in which the largest number of degrees were earned.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduation, a stellar 98% of the Class of 2022 had already landed full-time jobs or were enrolled in graduate/professional school. Companies employing large numbers of Lafayette alumni include Merck, IBM, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan Chase Co., Deloitte, and EY. Those attending graduate school frequently land at some of the top programs in the country within their respective disciplines. Medical school applicants with a 3.6 GPA or above enjoy a 72% acceptance rate, and dental school candidates find homes at an 89% clip.

• Enrollment: 2,729
• Cost of Attendance: $84,402
• Acceptance Rate: 34%
• Retention Rate: 90%

Lehigh University

• Bethlehem, PA

Academic Highlights: Lehigh has a 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio, but classes aren’t as tiny as one might expect with such favorable staffing numbers. The average class size is 26 but, on the plus side, 45% of courses have enrollments of 19 or fewer. Undergraduate research is commonplace. With a highly ranked engineering school, it’s easy to view Lehigh as primarily a techie haven. Surprisingly, the majority of students pursue other programs, with Lehigh’s well-regarded business school drawing the most majors (29%); 22% graduate with a degree in engineering and 12% study CS.

Professional Outcomes: Recent grads quickly found its way toward the next productive step in their lives with 97% landing jobs or grad school placements within six months of leaving Lehigh. Among graduates of the School of Business and Economics, the top industries entered were financial services, accounting, consulting, and computer software. The average starting salary for a recent grad is $67,000. Among recent diploma-earners heading straight to graduate school, roughly 30% were studying engineering, one-quarter were pursuing business degrees, 10% were training for health professions.

• Enrollment: 5,624
• Cost of Attendance: $72,000
• Median SAT: 1410
• Acceptance Rate: 37%

Vanderbilt University

• Nashville, TN

Academic Highlights: Four of Vandy’s ten schools cater to undergrads: the College of Arts and Sciences, the Blair School of Music, the Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and the School of Engineering. In the 2022-23 school year, 87% of course sections contained 19 or fewer students. Of the 70 undergraduate majors, economics, politics and government, and neuroscience are the most popular. The School of Engineering has a strong national reputation as do offerings in biology, economics, education, and music.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after graduating, 96% of the Class of 2021 were employed or in graduate school. The most commonly entered industry was finance followed by technology, consulting, education, and engineering. Alumni can be found in droves at Capital One, Goldman Sachs, Bain & Company, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and Meta. Among 2022 alumni who directly pursued advanced degrees, the majority enrolled at Vanderbilt followed by Columbia, Harvard, Penn, NYU, and Northwestern.

• Enrollment: 7,151 (undergraduate); 6,559 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $89,590

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Academic Highlights:  There are 125 undergraduate and graduate majors on the menu at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Sporting a 15:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the school is able to offer 32% of course sections with a cap of 19 students and only 4% enroll more than 50 individuals. Engineering is the most popular major accounting for 40% of all degrees conferred in 2022. Next on the list were computer science (28%), engineering technologies (11%), biology (5%), and business (5%).

Professional Outcomes:  Recent grads enjoyed an 85% employment rate within six months of earning their diploma and another 5% entered graduate school; 6% were still searching for their next step. The average starting salary is $67,852. Employers of 200+ alumni include Merck, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Bristol Myers Squibb, Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, Prudential, Citi, Amazon Web Services, Bank of America, and Microsoft.

• Enrollment: 9,019
• Cost of Attendance: $41,352 (In-State); $58,264 (Out-of-State)
• Median SAT: 1320
• Acceptance Rate: 66%
• Retention Rate: 89%
• Graduation Rate: 74%

Pennsylvania State University — University Park

• State College, PA

Academic Highlights: Penn State offers 275 majors and a number of top-ranked programs in a host of disciplines. The College of Engineering is rated exceptionally well on a national scale and is also the most popular field of study, accounting for 15% of the degrees conferred. The Smeal College of Business is equally well-regarded, earning high rankings in everything from supply chain management to accounting to marketing. It attracts 15% of total degree-seekers. 61% of classes have an enrollment below thirty students.

Professional Outcomes: By graduation, 70% of Nittany Lions have found their next employment or graduate school home. 98% of College of Business grads are successful within three months of exiting, flocking in large numbers to stellar finance, accounting, consulting, and technology firms. Hundreds of alumni work at Citi, Salesforce, and Meta, and more than 500 currently work at each of IBM, Deloitte, PwC, Amazon, EY, JPMorgan Chase, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle. 75% of 2022 grads employed full-time earned starting salaries greater than $50k.

• Enrollment: 41,745 (undergraduate); 7,020 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $32,656 (in-state); $52,610 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1300
• Acceptance Rate: 55%

University of California, San Diego

• San Diego, CA

Academic Highlights: There are 140+ undergraduate majors offered at UCSD, and all students join one of eight undergraduate colleges meant to forge flourishing communities within the larger university. Biology has the highest representation of all majors (19%) followed by engineering (12%), the social sciences (11%), and computer science (9%). UCSD’s computer science and engineering programs have stellar reputations in the corporate and tech communities, and programs in biology, economics, and political science are among the best anywhere.

Professional Outcomes: Employers of recent graduates included the Walt Disney Company, Tesla, NBC Universal, PwC, Northrop Grumman, and EY. More than 1,000 current Google employees are UC San Diego alumni, and Qualcomm, Amazon, and Apple all employ 500+ each. The median early career salary is $65,000 across all majors, placing the university in the top 10 public universities in the country. UCSD also fares well in measures of its return-on-investment potential.

• Enrollment: 33,096 (undergraduate); 8,386 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $31,830 (in-state); $64,404 (out-of-state)
• Acceptance Rate: 25%

University of Virginia

• Charlottesville, VA

Academic Highlights: Undergrads can study within one of seven colleges/schools, which all offer many small classes; 15% boast single-digit enrollment and 48% contain 19 or fewer students. The McIntire School of Commerce and the School of Engineering and Applied Science have glowing reputations. Other notable strengths include computer science, economics, and political philosophy, policy, and law. The most popular degree areas are liberal arts/general studies (22%), the social sciences (14%), engineering (11%), business/marketing (8%), and biology (7%).

Professional Outcomes:  Upon receiving their degree, 95% of the Class of 2022 immediately joined the workforce–with an average starting salary of $90k–or headed directly to graduate school. The most popular industries were internet & software, higher education, and management consulting. Capital One (85), Deloitte (46), Amazon (38), and Bain & Co. (26) scooped up the greatest number of 2022 grads. UVA itself was the most popular grad school destination followed by Columbia, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Johns Hopkins.

• Enrollment: 17,496 (undergraduate); 8,653 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $39,494-49,874 (in-state); $78,214-90,378 (out-of-state)
• Acceptance Rate: 19%

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Academic Highlights: There are five undergraduate schools within the larger university: the School of Architecture; the School of Management; the School of Science; the top-ranked School of Engineering; and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. A solid 54% of sections contain fewer than 20 students. The most degrees are conferred in engineering (45%) and computer and information sciences (21%). Rensselaer has very strong programs in mechanical, aerospace, computer, electrical, and biomedical engineering as well as physics, architecture, and computer science.

Professional Outcomes: As they receive their diplomas, 54% of RPI grads have already landed a job and 32% have committed to a graduate school. The largest numbers of grads were hired by companies that included Google, Microsoft, Deloitte, General Dynamics, Boeing, and IBM. Massive numbers of alumni hold leadership positions in corporations like Google, Pratt & Whitney, General Motors, GE, and Microsoft. Recent grads enjoy starting salaries in excess of $81k.

• Enrollment: 5,895 (undergraduate); 1,096 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $82,404
• Acceptance Rate: 65%

Bucknell University

• Lewisburg, PA

Academic Highlights: Over 60 majors and 70 minors are on tap across three undergraduate schools: the College of Arts & Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. Getting well-acquainted with your professors is easy with a 9:1 student-faculty ratio, and class sizes are reasonably small. The greatest number of degrees are conferred in the areas of the social sciences (26%), engineering (14%), business (14%), biology (11%), and psychology (9%).

Professional Outcomes: Nine months after graduation, 94% of the Class of 2022 had launched their careers or entered graduate school. Financial services is the most common sector for Bucknell grads to enter, attracting 24% of alumni. Across all disciplines, the average salary for a Class of 2022 grad was $69,540. Bucknell saw 18% of 2022 grads go directly into an advanced degree program. Bison alumni heading to graduate school predominantly pursue degrees in the medical field, social sciences, business, or engineering.

• Enrollment: 3,747
• Cost of Attendance: $80,890
• Median SAT: 1380
• Acceptance Rate: 33%

Stevens Institute of Technology

• Hoboken, NJ

Academic Highlights: There are 35 undergraduate majors at Stevens across four undergraduate schools: the top-rated Schaefer School of Engineering & Science, the School of Business, the College of Arts and Letters, and the School of Systems and Enterprises. 49% of course sections contain fewer than 20 students. Engineering is, by far, the most common undergraduate major. Programs in computer science, cybersecurity, and quantitative finance also receive praise. Over 80% of degrees granted are in a STEM field, and most of the remaining grads major in business, finance, and accounting.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 97% of the Class of 2022 found employment or graduate school homes; most students entered the fields of finance (29%), technology (17%), aerospace/defense (9%), and construction (6%). The greatest number of recent grads landed at Google, EY, Merck, Prudential, and PwC. Massive numbers of alumni can also be found at Verizon, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson. The average starting salary was $79,600. Of the 33% who immediately enrolled in graduate school, the vast majority were pursuing master’s or PhDs.

• Enrollment: 4,070 (undergraduate); 5,244 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $81,922
• Median SAT: 1450
• Acceptance Rate: 46%

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

• Worcester, MA

Academic Highlights: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) offers a hands-on and innovative project-based curriculum; all students complete a minimum of two long-term research projects that are focused on solving real-world problems. A staggering 52% of its classes enroll fewer than ten students, creating an incredible level of academic intimacy. The most popular majors are under the engineering umbrella (63%) and computer science (16%). The undergraduate engineering program is respected worldwide and frequently graces lists of top schools.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 94% of 2022 grads landed jobs or enrolled full-time in graduate school. Recent grads found jobs at top companies including Airbnb, DraftKings, Amazon Robotics, and NASA. Hundreds of WPI alumni are employed at Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney, Dell, and BAE Systems. The average starting salary is over $74,000 and is one of the highest in the country. Over one-quarter of grads elect to pursue an advanced degree immediately after graduation, enrolling at institutions that recently included Georgia Tech, Brown, Johns Hopkins, and Stanford.

• Enrollment: 5,246 (undergraduate); 2,062 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $81,751

University of Wisconsin – Madison

• Madison, WI

Academic Highlights: There are 230+ undergraduate majors offered across eight schools and colleges, including the top-ranked School of Business and College of Engineering as well as the College of Letters and Science, the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and the Schools of Nursing, Education, Pharmacy, and Human Ecology. Undergrads can expect a mix of large and small classes, with 44% of sections enrolling fewer than 20 students. Business (18%), biology (12%), the social sciences (11%), and engineering (10%) are most popular.

Professional Outcomes: In a recent year, 46% of job-seeking grads graduated with an offer.  Top employers included UW-Madison, Epic, Kohl’s, Oracle, Deloitte, and UW Health. Across all graduating years, companies employing 250+ alumni include Google, Target, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, PwC, Accenture, and Meta. 28% of recent grads enrolled directly in graduate/professional school; the majority stayed at UW–Madison while others headed to Columbia, Northwestern, and Carnegie Mellon. The university is the top producer of Peace Corps volunteers.

• Enrollment: 37,230 (undergraduate); 12,656 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $28,916 (in-state); $58,912 (out-of-state)
• Acceptance Rate: 49%

University of Maryland, College Park

• College Park, MD

Academic Highlights: Undergraduates can select from 100+ majors across twelve colleges. 18% of degrees are conferred in computer science, followed by the social sciences (13%), with  criminology, government and politics, and economics being the most popular majors.  Engineering (13%), business (11%), and biology (8%) are next in line. The School of Business, the School of Engineering, and the College of Journalism are all top-ranked, as are programs in computer science and criminology. 46% of sections enroll fewer than twenty students.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of graduating, 96% of Class of 2022 grads had positive outcomes. 67% found employment; the companies/organizations that hired the greatest number of grads included Northrop Grumman, Deloitte, Amazon, and EY. Meta, Apple, and Google employ more than 200 alumni each.  The mid-50% salary range for 2022 grads was $55k-$83k. 21% of the Class of 2022 headed directly to graduate and professional school; 11% entered doctoral programs, 5% entered medical school, and 5% entered law school.

• Enrollment: 30,353 (undergraduate); 10,439 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $31,540 (in-state); $60,918 (out-of-state)
• Acceptance Rate: 84%

Tufts University

• Medford, MA

Academic Highlights: Three schools serve Tufts’ undergraduate population: the College of Arts & Sciences, the College of Engineering, and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. The three schools combined offer more than 90 majors and minors; approximately one-third of all students double major, and half declare a minor. 15% of all courses see fewer than ten students enrolled, and 60% have sub-twenty enrollments. The most popular majors include international relations, economics, computer science, political science, and biology—all of which receive very high marks.

Professional Outcomes: Six months after earning their diplomas, 97% of 2022 graduates were employed or attending graduate school. The most commonly entered fields were finance, consulting, real estate (23%); engineering and technology (22%); health, life sciences, environmental (21%); and education, advocacy, social services (11%). Prolific employers of Tufts alums include Booz Allen Hamilton, JPMorgan, MITRE, Google, Deloitte, Amazon, Raytheon, Morgan Stanley, and BlackRock. Of the 21% of 2022 grads who went directly to graduate school, 85% were accepted into their first-choice institution.

• Enrollment: 6,815 (undergraduate); 6,616 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $88,300
• Acceptance Rate: 10%

Colorado School of Mines

Academic Highlights: There are around 20 bachelor of science degree options to choose from as well as additional areas of specialization. Classes are rarely small as Mines possesses a student-to-faculty ratio of 17:1. The average class has 34 students, and only 27% of sections have an enrollment under twenty. The largest number of degrees are conferred in mechanical engineering and petroleum engineering. In fact, 78% of all earned degrees are classified under the engineering umbrella.

Professional Outcomes: Members of the Class of 2022 landed industry jobs or full-time graduate school positions at a clip of 93%. Companies employing massive numbers of Mines’ grads include Lockheed Martin, BP, ExxonMobil, Halliburton, Chevron, and Shell. Those finding employment enjoyed an average starting salary of $81,000. Nineteen percent of freshly printed diploma-holders directly enter graduate school, and the most popular institution is Mines itself, which is the choice of 82% of those pursuing advanced degrees.

• Enrollment: 5,733
• Cost of Attendance: $42,062 (In-State); $65,252 (Out-of-State)
• Acceptance Rate: 58%
• Graduation Rate: 81%

University of California, Davis

Academic Highlights: UC Davis offers 100+ undergraduate majors across four schools: the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the College of Biological Sciences, the College of Engineering, and the College of Letters and Science. 50% engage in some type of research/creative project outside the classroom. The areas of study with the largest number of degrees awarded were biology, the social sciences, psychology, and engineering. Programs in engineering, computer science, and animal science are nationally renowned.

Professional Outcomes: Many recent grads found homes at Silicon Valley or other California-based employers. Corporations employing 200 or more Aggies include Genentech, Google, Apple, Cisco, Meta, Oracle, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce, and LinkedIn. Ten years out of school, median earnings rise to $112k. Within one year of graduating, 39% of Aggies elect to continue their education; the most popular degrees pursued are master’s, MDs or other health doctorates, law, and MBA/MPA.

• Enrollment: 31,797 (undergraduate); 9,053 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $41,389 (in-state); $73,963 (out-of-state)
• Acceptance Rate: 42%

University of Southern California

Academic Highlights : There are 140 undergraduate majors and minors within the Dornsife College of Arts & Sciences alone, the university’s oldest and largest school. The Marshall School of Business, Viterbi School of Engineering, and programs in communication, the cinematic arts, and the performing arts are highly acclaimed. Popular areas of study are business (22%), social sciences (11%), visual and performing arts (11%), communications/journalism (9%), and engineering (8%). Most courses enroll 10-19 students, and USC does an excellent job facilitating undergraduate research opportunities.

Professional Outcomes: 96% of undergrads experience positive postgraduation outcomes within six months of earning their degree. The top five industries entered were finance, consulting, advertising, software development, and engineering; the median salary across all majors is an astounding $79k. Presently, between 300 and 1,500 alumni are employed at each of Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, and Meta. Graduate/professional schools enrolling the greatest number of 2022 USC grads include NYU, Georgetown, Harvard, Stanford, Pepperdine, and UCLA.

• Enrollment: 20,699 (undergraduate); 28,246 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $90,921
• Median SAT: 1510

University of Colorado Boulder

• Boulder, CO

Academic Highlights: CU Boulder offers 90 bachelor’s degree programs across seven different schools and colleges; the College of Engineering & Applied Science and the Leeds School of Business both possess excellent national reputations. Business/marketing is the discipline where the greatest number of degrees (15%) were conferred in 2022. Engineering (13%), biology (12%), social sciences (12%), and journalism (10%) are next in popularity. 41% of classes have fewer than 20 students, and only 19% of courses enroll 50 or more students.

Professional Outcomes : Within six months of leaving CU Boulder, 91% of recent grads were working or in graduate school. Those employed earned an estimated median salary of $54k, with the greatest number working at Lockheed Martin, Ball Aerospace, Deloitte, Qualcomm, Northrop Grumman, KPMG, Charles Schwab, and Boeing. More than 100 alumni can also be found at Google, Oracle, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. 20% of new grads immediately jumped into an advanced degree program, and 80% were accepted into their first-choice school.

• Enrollment: 31,103 (undergraduate); 7,110 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $31,744 (in-state); $60,118 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1280
• Retention Rate: 88%
• Graduation Rate: 75%

University of Washington – Seattle

• Seattle, WA

Academic Highlights: 180+ undergraduate majors are offered across thirteen colleges/schools. Personal connections with professors abound as 55% of grads complete a faculty-mentored research project. The College of Engineering, which includes the College of Computer Science & Engineering, is one of the best in the nation; UW also boasts strong programs in everything from business to social work to environmental science. The most popular degrees are the social sciences (13%), biology (12%), computer science (11%), and business (8%).

Professional Outcomes: Within months of graduation, 73% of Class of 2022 grads were employed and 17% were continuing their education. The most popular employers of the Class of 2022 included Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, and KPMG. Across all living alumni, 6,000+ work for Microsoft, and 4000+ work for each of Boeing and Amazon. Of those headed to graduate/professional school, just over half remain in state, mostly at UW itself. Large numbers of 2022 grads also headed to Columbia, Johns Hopkins, and USC.

• Enrollment: 36,872 (undergraduate); 16,211 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $34,554 (in-state); $63,906 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1420
• Acceptance Rate: 48%

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

• San Luis Obispo

Academic Highlights: Across all divisions, there are 60+ majors and 80+ minors offered. The majority of courses–59%–fall between twenty and forty students. Cal Poly’s student-to-faculty ratio is a high 18:1, but such is the cost of an uber-affordable STEM degree from an excellent institution. Over one-quarter of all degrees conferred (22%) are in engineering, and Cal Poly gets recognition in many specialty areas of the field including industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, and civil engineering.

Professional Outcomes: Within nine months of graduating, 91% of graduates are “positively engaged” in their next life activity. Top employers of Cal Poly grads include many of the top tech, consulting, engineering, and financial firms in the country such as Google, Deloitte, KPMG, Microsoft, Northrop Grumman, Adobe, EY, and Apple. Overall, grads enjoy a terrific median starting salary of $72,000. Of the 14% of alumni who directly enter graduate school, the six most commonly attended schools are all in California.

• Enrollment: 20,963
• Cost of Attendance: $32,000 (in-state); $53,000 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1337
• Acceptance Rate: 30%

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Academic Highlights: Accounting for 56% of the student body, engineering is the subject in which the largest number of degrees are conferred followed by visual arts (28%) and then architecture (16%). All three schools shine in the eyes of employers as well as other institutions of higher education. No matter your area of study at CU, students report receiving a high degree of attention and mentorship from faculty. With 57% of class sections containing fewer than 20 students, learning is an intimate endeavor.

Professional Outcomes: Due to the exceptionally low numbers of graduates from Cooper Union each year, it is hard to say that large numbers of alumni cluster in any particular company. However, it is fair to state that CU graduates regularly find their way into the most desirable firms within their respective disciplines. Forty percent of CU graduates continue their education at top-ranked graduate programs. In the last few years, Cooper Union diploma-holders have gone on to advanced study in architecture at Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Penn, and Yale.

• Enrollment: 899
• Cost of Attendance: $47,271
• Acceptance Rate: 22%
• Graduation Rate: 80%

New York University

Academic Highlights: NYU is divided into a number of smaller (but still quite large) colleges organized by discipline; in sum, there are 230 areas of undergraduate study across nine schools and colleges. For its size, a commendable 58% of classes have an enrollment under 20 students. While all schools within NYU have solid reputations, Stern holds the distinction as one of the top undergraduate business programs in the country. For those entering film, dance, drama, or other performing arts, Tisch is as prestigious a place as you can find to study.

Professional Outcomes: Within six months of exiting, 94% of Class of 2022 grads had landed at their next destination, with 78% employed and 21% in graduate school. The top industries for employment were healthcare (11%), internet and software (9%), finance (8%), and entertainment (8%). Large numbers of alumni can be found at Google, Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, IBM, JP Morgan Chase, Citi, and Amazon. The mean starting salary is $75,336. In 2022, business, arts and sciences, and law school were the most popular grad school destinations.

• Enrollment: 29,401 (undergraduate); 29,711 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $90,222-$96,172

North Carolina State University

• Raleigh, NC

Academic Highlights: NC State offers more than 100 majors and 120 minors. 64% of sections enroll 29 or fewer students. Engineering is the most popular area of concentration as 24% of Class of 2022 graduates earned a degree in that field. Business/marketing comes in second at 17% followed by biology (10%) and agriculture (7%). NC State has an exceptional regional reputation and an expanding national one with the College of Engineering near the top of many rankings. Programs in design, architecture, and animal science are also very strong.

Professional Outcomes: 54% of students graduating in 2022 had already accepted full-time jobs before exiting; 27% were heading to graduate/professional school. Members of that class reported an average starting salary of $62,024 (with a slightly higher median). Including all graduating years, the companies employing the largest number of alumni are Cisco, Red Hat, SAS, IBM, Lenovo, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, Google, Deloitte, Facebook, and Salesforce. Many recent grads also work for the university itself and for the Wake County Public School System.

• Enrollment: 26,254 (undergraduate); 10,446 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $27,451 (in-state); $51,662 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1340
• Acceptance Rate: 47%

The Ohio State University — Columbus

• Columbus, OH

Academic Highlights: There are 200+ undergraduate majors and 18 schools and colleges housed within OSU. Business sees the greatest percentage of degrees conferred at 18% followed by engineering (15%), health professions (10%), and the social sciences (9%). It makes sense that so many flock to the business and engineering schools as they are among the highest-rated undergraduate programs in their respective disciplines. 40% of sections enroll fewer than 20 students, and approximately 20% of students gain research experience.

Professional Outcomes: Upon receiving their diplomas, 56% of Class of 2022 graduates were entering the world of employment while 17% were already accepted into graduate or professional school.  Hordes of Buckeyes can be found at many of the nation’s leading companies. More than 2,000 alumni work for JPMorgan Chase, more than 1,000 are employed by Amazon, and more than 600 work for Google and Microsoft. Of the grads who directly matriculate into graduate or professional school, many continue in one of OSU’s own programs.

• Enrollment: 45,728 (undergraduate); 14,318 (graduate)
• Cost of Attendance: $27,241 (in-state); $52,747 (out-of-state)
• Median SAT: 1340-1450
• Median ACT: 29-32

We hope you have found our list of the Best Colleges for Civil Engineering to be useful and informative as you continue your college search process. We also invite you to check out some of our other resources and tools including:

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A licensed counselor and published researcher, Andrew's experience in the field of college admissions and transition spans two decades. He has previously served as a high school counselor, consultant and author for Kaplan Test Prep, and advisor to U.S. Congress, reporting on issues related to college admissions and financial aid.

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ME 2024 Commencement and Diploma Ceremony

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Stanford Mechanical Engineering Diploma Ceremony for the Class of 2024

The Stanford ME Department is thrilled to welcome the class of 2024 to participate in our Diploma Ceremony on Sunday, June 16, 2024.  We look forward to celebrating our graduates as they walk the stage in front of family and friends.

• When:  Sunday, June 16, 2024, from 12:30 to 3:30 pm, reception to follow
• Where:  Maples Pavilion ,  655 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305. Reception will be held at Chuck Taylor Grove, adjacent to the Avery Aquatic Center and a short walk from the ceremony. 
• Who:   Graduates of the class of 2024 (BS, MS, ENGR, PhD)

Only students who confer a degree in autumn, winter, spring, or summer of 2023-2024 may participate in the ME Diploma Ceremony as a member of the class of 2024. If you graduated in a previous quarter (summer 2023) or will be graduating in a future quarter, please see details about submitting a Walkthrough petition.

• Graduate : student who has graduated and conferred a degree in any quarter of 2023-2024. 
• Walkthrough : students who have conferred their degree in a previous quarter, or will be conferring their degree in the summer quarter of 2024 will need to register as a Walkthrough participant in the ME Diploma Ceremony. See details below. 

Mechanical Engineering Walkthrough Form 2024 :  https://forms.gle/QSs5u8M7cmC6kbrPA

This is a form for people who are not receiving a degree this spring, but want to participate in the ME Diploma Ceremony in June. This is not an application to graduate. 

• ME-BS  students must have completed at least 160 undergraduate units by the end of spring quarter. 
• ME-MS  students must have completed at least 36 graduate units by the end of spring quarter. 
• ME-PhD  students must have a scheduled Oral Exam for spring or summer quarters. 

You can check how many units you've completed by checking your transcript. Be sure to order your cap and gown from the Stanford Bookstore. Caps and gowns must be worn to participate in all Commencement ceremonies. We'll send an email in early May to confirm whether your Walkthrough Petition has been approved by ME Student Services.

This form is only for the ME Diploma Ceremony that will take place on Sunday, June 16, 2024. This form is not for the main university ceremony that takes place at the football stadium. If you have any question about the main university ceremony at the football stadium, please read the information at  commencement.stanford.edu .

We will be hosting boxed lunches for students and guests between 11:15am - 12:00pm. 

• Tickets will not be required for the ME Diploma Ceremony. Graduates are welcome to invite family and friends to celebrate, with no restrictions on the number of guests.

Graduates:  Important things to know and do

• Apply to graduate in Axess.
• Indicate whether you will be participating in Commencement and Diploma Ceremonies (this is part of the application to graduate, in Axess).
• Be on the lookout for emails from ME Student Services with details about Commencement Info Sessions (attendance is mandatory), and other ceremony logistics.
• Be sure to submit a final, completed program sheet (BS, MS) which will be used to clear you for graduation. 

For Family and Friends

• Due to staff bandwidth, the mechanical engineering department will be communicating details about our ceremony with students/graduates only, not with family members. Please continue to check this web page, or speak with your graduate in order to obtain information about our ceremony.  
• https://visit.stanford.edu/basics/lodging.html
• https://reunion.stanford.edu/plan-your-visit/hotels-lodging  

Health and Safety Update

• Clear Bag Policy: Maples Pavilion follows the Public Safety Clear Bag Policy . See the link for details. 
• Maples will have a limited bag check station in front of the building, but we cannot guarantee that there will be space available for your bag. Also, please be aware that any checked bag may be subject to inspection when checking it in. 
• All attendees are subject to security screening. 
• We follow all federal, state, and local guidelines regarding public health and safety, so please check back here before you arrive. 

The Program:

Graduating Students

(all times are approximate)

12:00-12:30pm: Grad Check-In/Line-Up

12:30pm: Ceremony begins

12:45pm: Opening Remarks (~10 minutes)

12:55pm: Graduate Awards (~10 minutes)

1:05pm:  Awarding of Doctoral Degrees and Hooding Ceremony (~45 minutes)

1:50pm: Awarding of Master's Degrees (~25 minutes)

2:15pm: Undergraduate Awards (~20 minutes)

2:35pm: Awarding of Bachelor's Degrees (~45 minutes)

3:20pm: Closing Remarks

Accessibility

There will be an accessibility Dropoff tent on Campus Drive right in front of Maples Pavilion. You may drop off/pick up guests needing assistance there.

If you need accommodation for accessibility issues, please email [email protected] .

Request for Disability-Related Accommodations 

Access, Mobility, and Transportation Resources

Helpful Links

For information about the main in-person Stanford University Commencement Celebration please go to Stanford's Commencement webpage .

updated 4/10/2024

Symposium inaugurates Center for Computational Market Design

A new interdisciplinary center at Stanford aims to tackle complex challenges in market design by uniting researchers with expertise in algorithm development, economics, computer science, and operations research.

The Center for Computational Market Design was inaugurated April 1 with a symposium at the Stanford School of Engineering.

“The center will highlight and amplify the work of the vibrant community of scholars, including faculty and students studying market design across campus, and support a thriving interdisciplinary research environment by facilitating workshops, recruiting postdocs and fellows, and bringing together graduate students,” Pamela Hinds , the Fortinet Founders Chair of the Department of Management Science and Engineering, said in introductory remarks.

Market design is the discipline of crafting rules and procedures to create or improve markets, such as those for online advertising, ridesharing services, and even exchanging organs for transplantation. The symposium featured presenters from academia, including two Nobel laureates, as well as speakers from industry and nonprofit organizations.

In an interview, Amin Saberi , a co-director of the center and professor of management science and engineering, said he hopes that research by the center’s members can inform market-related policy decisions in health care, education, transportation, electricity, and the environment.

“One of our goals is to collaborate with industry and the government to analyze existing markets and improve their performance,” Saberi said. “We also hope that the center becomes a launchpad for prototyping new marketplaces.”

Itai Ashlagi , the center’s other co-director and a professor of management science and engineering, said in an interview that the rise of artificial intelligence played a role in the decision to launch the center. “AI is going to be a big player in marketplaces,” he said.

In remarks at the symposium, Saberi called out a 2002 paper by Alvin Roth , professor of economics at Stanford and co-recipient of the 2012 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, that highlighted the emerging discipline of market design. Roth, a member of the new center, advanced the notion of economists as engineers.

Saberi also talked about the contributions of computer scientists, including research done by him and Ashlagi, influencing the design of online marketplaces.

Market design without borders

Roth, the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, said that national borders often hinder kidney exchanges. That’s because most countries don’t permit organs from foreign donors to be used within their borders for transplantation. He noted that the World Health Organization even encourages countries’ organ-procurement programs to be self-sufficient – that is, to draw only from the supply within their borders. Roth is not a fan of this approach.

“We don’t require countries to be self-sufficient in anything else,” he said. “When there’s a famine, we don’t advise countries to have a better, more robust agricultural sector. When there’s a COVID pandemic, we don’t advise countries to develop their pharmaceutical sector.”

Roth said one of his goals for the new center is to find ways to clear the logistical hurdles, such as different rules governing health care and patient privacy, that stymie efforts to coordinate kidney exchanges internationally.

“I’m hoping that we’re going to be able to overcome these border issues because end-stage renal disease is a global problem,” he said. “It needs global solutions.”

Opportunities, challenges in market design

During a panel discussion, several speakers discussed the possibilities and perils of AI in market design. Ann Miura Ko, PhD ’10, co-founding partner of the venture capital firm Floodgate, said she believes that generative AI will automate workflows and some knowledge work, such as generating contracts, clearing a path for “solopreneurs” to compete with large, established businesses.

Hal Varian, the chief economist at Google, raised the question of whether algorithms could violate antitrust law, citing a recent lawsuit alleging that several Atlantic City hotels engaged in illegal price-fixing by using the same algorithm to set rates for their rooms. He implicitly suggested that market-design models incorporating AI could potentially run afoul of antitrust law.

Other presenters discussed more specific market-design challenges. Paul Milgrom, professor of economics at Stanford and the Shirley R. and Leonard W. Ely, Jr. Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences, said he hopes to design a market for water allocation in California. A co-recipient of the 2020 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, Milgrom said he plans to tackle the project by applying lessons he learned as an architect of the Federal Communications Commission’s system for auctioning radio spectrum from television to wireless broadband. Challenges posed by allocating spectrum are somewhat similar to those posed by designing a market for water allocation in the state, he said.

During the reception following the symposium, Ashlagi surveyed attendees as they munched on hors d’oeuvres and sipped drinks. “As a part of the center’s work, we hope to organize workshops that bring experts from outside and inside academia to collaborate,” he said. “We want to inspire the next generation to pursue innovative and effective market design.”

Related : Itai Ashlagi , professor of management science and engineering 

Related : Amin Saberi , professor of management science and engineering

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Proposed new institute would study what drives transitions to sustainability

Scholars from across the university have contributed to a vision for a Sustainable Societies Institute in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability that would focus on understanding change in systems where people and nature are inextricably linked – such as cities, food, or global markets.

For communities, governments, organizations, and industries with ambitions to address global challenges and help people and nature thrive together, an important question will be how to make changes that stick – given all the complexities of social and environmental systems. 

By the end of 2024, the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability aims to launch an institute that seeks to inform answers to this question through scholarship and partnerships. 

“The heart of the proposed institute is a question of how societies accomplish changes that lead to greater sustainability,” said Gabrielle Wong-Parodi , an assistant professor of Earth system science who has co-led discussions with faculty and scholars from across Stanford’s seven schools to develop a vision for the Sustainable Societies Institute , or SSI. “We’re suggesting that [SSI can help answer this question by] working in the real world with partners to develop solutions and [bring them] to scale in a way that is just and appropriate.”

Over the past year, Wong-Parodi and co-leader Jim Leape , the William and Eva Price Senior Fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment , have brought together dozens of Stanford scholars and institute leaders in meetings and a workshop and consulted with the school’s advisory council to explore possibilities for an institute focused on sustainable societies.

Now, building on the vision for SSI that emerged from this exploration, the school is launching a search for a director or co-directors to bring the vision to reality.

At the helm of the director search committee are energy science and engineering professor emeritus Lynn Orr , the founding director of the Precourt Institute for Energy , and organizational behavior professor Sarah Soule , who directs the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences . Officially launching a new institute will also require review and approval by the Academic Council Advisory Board and the provost.

The question of how to catalyze research that can lead to a sustainable future lies at the heart of the school’s commitment to addressing the big challenges of sustainability. “Just like the Woods and Precourt institutes, the new Sustainable Societies Institute will cultivate the connective tissue across disciplines critical to advancing research and scholarship needed to foster sustainable societies across the world,” said Dean Arun Majumdar . 

Supporting transdisciplinary research

The vision developed by faculty from across Stanford calls for the proposed Sustainable Societies Institute to focus on understanding what scholars call “socio-ecological systems,” or systems where people and nature are inextricably linked, such as cities, food systems, and global markets. 

The institute will create programs that foster “vibrant communities of scholars from across the university who are building our engagement with issues that are of pressing importance,” Leape said. This will support research that can build a base of evidence for what actually helps sustainable changes take hold, rather than relying on intuition about what might work, said Wong-Parodi.

In addition to initiatives and seed-grant programs modeled on other successful institutes, SSI will support ambitious, long-term research projects – potentially as long as 10-20 years. “We can follow changes over time and test the effectiveness of possible solutions, which could then meet some of the educational goals of the university as being a place where students can be embedded in long-term research projects, and where they contribute and work with partners,” Wong-Parodi said.

The Natural Capital Project , which began in 2005, illustrates how such a project could look, Leape said. Similar to the way the Natural Capital Project has engaged partners around the world to bring the value of nature into decision-making, future SSI initiatives might work with farmers, food companies, and governments to create healthier, more sustainable food systems, for example, or with international aid organizations to slow down migration in the wake of disasters fueled by climate change.

Bringing partners together

Like the work of other institutes, partnership is another key aspect of SSI. “To achieve its goals, SSI will need to work with communities, countries, companies, and organizations at any level, to develop solutions that can actually help them crack the challenge of sustainability,” said Leape, who is also co-director of the Center for Ocean Solutions .

SSI researchers will work with partners to identify appropriate solutions for them. Not every solution fits every context, Wong-Parodi said, but each problem offers lessons to learn and the possibility of adapting or scaling solutions to meet other needs.

Stanford’s strength in multiple domains makes the university an ideal place for fostering these critical partnerships. “Not only do we have the expertise, we also have the convening power. Something that we do really well is to bring people together, bring partners together, bring researchers together,” Wong-Parodi said. “That’s something that we think we should leverage and lean into.”

Leape is also a professor, by courtesy, of oceans in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability. Wong-Parodi is also an assistant professor of environmental social sciences in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and a center fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. 

Orr is the Keleen and Carlton Beal Professor, Emeritus, and an affiliate of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. He served as dean of the Stanford School of Earth Sciences from 1994 to 2002. Soule is the Morgridge Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business , the Sara Miller McCune Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS), and a professor, by courtesy, of sociology in the School of Humanities and Sciences .

Additional members of the Sustainable Societies Institute director search committee include Nicole Ardoin , Jack Baker , David Cohen , Peter Henry , Roberta Katz , Isik Kizilyalli , Desiree LaBeaud , and Gabrielle Wong-Parodi .

Explore More

New postdoctoral fellowship focuses on sustainability

The first group of scholars supported under the new Sustainability Accelerator Fellowship program will focus on the challenge of removing billions of tons of greenhouse gases annually from Earth’s atmosphere by the middle of this century.

Discovery Grants support fundamental research in sustainability

Sixteen grants provided by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability will support work on unproven but potentially transformational ideas to deepen understanding of Earth, climate, and society.

For the Colorado River and beyond, a new market could save the day

Stanford economist Paul Milgrom won a Nobel Prize in part for his role in enabling today’s mobile world. Now he’s tackling a different 21st century challenge: water scarcity.

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• Deborah Chung and Venu Govindaraju to receive UB President’s Medal

Deborah Chung and Venu Govindaraju to receive UB President’s Medal

The UB President's Medal recognizes extraordinary service to the university.

Published April 11, 2024

Deborah Duen Ling Chung, professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and Venu Govindaraju, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering and vice president for research and economic development, are two of this year’s recipients of the UB President’s Medal in recognition of extraordinary service to the university.

The UB President’s Medal, first presented in 1990, recognizes “outstanding scholarly or artistic achievements, humanitarian acts, contributions of time or treasure, exemplary leadership or any other major contribution to the development of the University at Buffalo and the quality of life in the UB community.”

The President’s Medal will be presented to Chung and Govindaraju during commencement ceremonies for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Govindaraju will receive the medal at the graduate commencement at 9 a.m. May 18 and Chung will receive the award later that day at the undergraduate ceremony set for 5 p.m.

A prolific scholar with over 600 peer-reviewed journal publications, Chung specializes in materials science and engineering, particularly smart materials, multifunctional structural materials, concrete, thermal management, battery electrode materials, carbon fibers and nanofibers, composite materials and their interfaces, electronic packaging materials, electromagnetic interference shielding materials, and vibration damping materials.

She was named a fellow last year of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest scholarly societies in the United States.

A UB faculty member since 1986, Chung is the recipient of numerous other honors, including the Charles E. Pettinos Award from the American Carbon Society, the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities, the SUNY Outstanding Inventor Award, an honorary doctorate from the University of Alicante and the Hsun Lee Award, jointly awarded by Institute of Metal Research (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science.

According to the 2022 ranking from Stanford University that examined 315,721 researchers (living and deceased) in the field of materials research, Chung is ranked No. 13 overall, No. 10 among those who are living and No. 1 among females.

Chung is a dedicated teacher, having mentored nearly 40 PhD graduates and received the Teacher of the Year award from the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi. The books that she has authored include “Functional Materials,” “Carbon Materials” and “Composite Materials.” Due to her interest in inspiring young people to pursue science careers, she is the editor of the book series “The Road to Scientific Success: Inspiring Life Stories of Prominent Researchers.”

Chung is a fellow of The American Carbon Society and of ASM (the former American Society for Metals) International. She is also an affiliate faculty member with UB’s RENEW Institute, a university-wide, multidisciplinary research institute that focuses on complex energy and environmental issues, as well as the social and economic issues with which they are connected.

Chung received her PhD in materials science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her master’s degree in engineering science and bachelor’s degree in engineering and applied science from the California Institute of Technology. 

Govindaraju   established UB’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, and the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education, and is founding director of the Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors at UB.

An internationally known authority in artificial intelligence (AI), Govindaraju is credited with major conceptual and practical advances, with six books, six patents and close to 500 refereed publications.

He has received numerous peer honors and is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) (2015), Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) (2013), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2010), Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) (2009), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) (2006), and the International Association of Pattern Recognition (IAPR) (2004). He received the Outstanding Achievements Award from the International Conference on Document Analysis and Recognition (IAPR/ICDAR) in 2015 and the IEEE Technical Achievement Award in 2010.

Govindaraju’s seminal work in handwriting recognition was at the core of the first handwritten address interpretation system used by the U.S. Postal Service. He has active and continuous grant awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Throughout his 25-year career, he has secured more than $95 million in sponsored funding from various federal and state agencies, as well as industry, including the recent $20 million grant from the NSF and the Institute of Education Sciences to establish the National AI Institute for Exceptional Education at UB.

Govindaraju earned his PhD and master’s in computer science from UB and his bachelor’s degree with honors from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, from which he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2014.

In a teaching career spanning more than two decades, he has graduated 44 doctoral students and 17 master’s students as their primary thesis adviser. Govindaraju also received the Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring Award from UB in 2016.

Research Interests

Ambulatory Surgery Center (48X) Building at UCD Medical Center by Francisco Parisi

Event Date Thu, Apr 18, 2024 @ 2:10pm - 3:30pm

The UCDH Sacramento Ambulatory Surgery Center (48X) will address a shortage in operating room capacity at UC Davis Health’s main campus in Sacramento. The facility baseline program of 260,000 square-foot Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development Level-3 clinical space, includes 12 operating rooms, 5 procedure rooms, 62 pre- and post-operative recovery bays, public spaces, clinical support operations spaces (sterilization, pharmacy, etc), imaging spaces (MRI, CT-Scan), and physical therapy spaces, as well as medical office space (clinic) and administrative space for patient support and education. The Architect is Smithgroup, the Design-Builder is DPR Construction and the Owner is The University of California Davis Health.

It is a 5-story steel structure with concrete fill on metal deck supported on steel framing and steel columns. The lateral force-resisting system consists of a special steel moment frame with SidePlate connections. The foundation system consists of isolated spread footings. The building has a V-shaped footprint with the upper three levels rotated about 10 degrees clockwise, with 60’ long girders spanning over the central breezeway. The project is delivered utilizing an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) methodology. Design started in late 2021 and the target completion date for the project is Spring 2025. The estimated Design and Construction cost, inclusive of design and pre-construction services fees, and escalation is about $400M. A Project Target Value was established at the onset of the project based on the maximum amount the University will spend on the project. A Target Value Design approach was followed to ensure the planning and design meets the Target Value Cost of the project. The SASC project requires intensive and close collaboration between the Design-Builder, the Architect, all consultants, UC Davis Health staff, the State Fire Marshal, Design-Build and Design Assist subcontractors, all other subcontractors, and many other project participants. Accordingly, all these entities will colocate in the Big Room to work together as a single team on the project.

Francisco Parisi is a Principal with Rutherford and Chekene. He has over 30 years of experience in structural engineering, with emphasis on Healthcare, Science and Technology, and Higher Education projects, with emphasis on Design-Build and IPD delivery methods. He is currently managing the UC Davis Health 48X ASC, the Sutter Modesto ASC , the UCSF Block 34 ASC and the San Francisco State University Housing+Dining Hall project, and recently completed the UC San Francisco Law 98 McAllister Housing and CSU Sonoma State Stevenson Hall project. Francisco did his undergraduate studies in Civil Engineering in Venezuela and earned a MS degree in Structural Engineering from Stanford University.

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"The wonderful thing about entrepreneurs is that their passion for starting new companies transcends languages and geographic boundaries."

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"As Stanford MBA students, we were exposed to a lot of VC firms both from the Valley and abroad. It is at Stanford that we met Anna Dvornikova, an absolutely amazing business leader and (by our big luck) our friend, who was the center of the Russian Silicon Valley professional community, and was doing a huge work to connect Russia and the Valley. Anna helped us a lot with kick-starting Wikimart, put us to our first-ever conference, introduced us to most of Russian VCs. And all that happened in a very short time span! It was the beginning of a six-month journey that despite the particularly tough times resulted in an extraordinarily group of investors backing our start-up."

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100 Best universities for Mechanical Engineering in Russia

Updated: February 29, 2024

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Below is a list of best universities in Russia ranked based on their research performance in Mechanical Engineering. A graph of 714K citations received by 136K academic papers made by 158 universities in Russia was used to calculate publications' ratings, which then were adjusted for release dates and added to final scores.

We don't distinguish between undergraduate and graduate programs nor do we adjust for current majors offered. You can find information about granted degrees on a university page but always double-check with the university website.

1. Moscow State University

For Mechanical Engineering

2. Tomsk State University

3. St. Petersburg State University

4. Bauman Moscow State Technical University

5. Ufa State Aviation Technical University

6. Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University

7. Tomsk Polytechnic University

8. Ural Federal University

9. South Ural State University

10. National Research University Higher School of Economics

11. Moscow Aviation Institute

12. Novosibirsk State University

13. ITMO University

14. N.R.U. Moscow Power Engineering Institute

15. National Research Nuclear University MEPI

16. Kazan Federal University

17. National University of Science and Technology "MISIS"

18. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology

19. Samara National Research University

20. Moscow State Technological University "Stankin"

21. Novosibirsk State Technical University

22. RUDN University

23. Southern Federal University

24. Saratov State University

25. Ufa State Petroleum Technological University

26. Samara State Technical University

27. Siberian Federal University

28. Kazan National Research Technical University named after A.N. Tupolev - KAI

29. Perm State Technical University

30. Omsk State Technical University

31. Saint Petersburg State Electrotechnical University

32. Moscow Polytech

33. Saint-Petersburg Mining University

34. Magnitogorsk State Technical University

35. Saratov State Technical University

36. Moscow State University of Railway Engineering

37. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod

38. Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University

39. Tula State University

40. Belgorod State Technological University

41. Far Eastern Federal University

42. Novgorod State University

43. belgorod state university.

44. Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation

45. Moscow Medical Academy

46. Kazan State Technological University

47. Russian State University of Oil and Gas

48. siberian state aerospace university.

49. Tambov State Technical University

50. Voronezh State University

51. Siberian State Industrial University

52. Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology

53. Kalashnikov Izhevsk State Technical University

54. St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering

55. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia

56. Murmansk State Technical University

57. South-Western State University

58. Ogarev Mordovia State University

59. Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics

60. south-russian state university of economics and service.

61. Perm State University

62. Kuzbass State Technical University

63. Russian National Research Medical University

64. Plekhanov Russian University of Economics

65. Ulyanovsk State Technical University

66. Ulyanovsk State University

67. Penza State University

68. Kuban State University of Technology

69. Polzunov Altai State Technical University

70. Chelyabinsk State University

71. Yaroslavl State University

72. University of Tyumen

73. National Research University of Electronic Technology

74. Leningrad State University

75. Moscow State Pedagogical University

76. Udmurt State University

77. Irkutsk State University

78. North-Eastern Federal University

79. Bashkir State University

80. Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

81. Kuban State University

82. Kuban State Agricultural University

83. St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation

84. Kemerovo State University

85. Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University

86. Orenburg State University

87. Baltic State Technical University "Voenmeh"

88. Tomsk State University of Architecture and Building

89. Chuvash State University

90. ivanovo state power university.

91. Irkutsk National Research Technical University

92. Orel State University

93. State University of Management

94. Tomsk State Pedagogical University

95. Volgograd State University

96. Petrozavodsk State University

97. Tver State University

98. Northern Arctic Federal University

99. Omsk State Transport University

100. Kaliningrad State Technical University

The best cities to study Mechanical Engineering in Russia based on the number of universities and their ranks are Moscow , Tomsk , Saint Petersburg , and Ufa .

Engineering subfields in Russia

Princeton University

Princeton engineering, can language models read the genome this one decoded mrna to make better vaccines..

By Scott Lyon

April 8, 2024

Princeton researchers led by Mengdi Wang have developed a language model to home in on partial genome sequences and optimize those sequences to improve function for the development of mRNA vaccines and other therapies. Illustration from Adobe Stock.

The same class of artificial intelligence that made headlines coding software and passing the bar exam has learned to read a different kind of text — the genetic code.

That code contains instructions for all of life’s functions and follows rules not unlike those that govern human languages. Each sequence in a genome adheres to an intricate grammar and syntax, the structures that give rise to meaning. Just as changing a few words can radically alter the impact of a sentence, small variations in a biological sequence can make a huge difference in the forms that sequence encodes.

Now Princeton University researchers led by machine learning expert Mengdi Wang are using language models to home in on partial genome sequences and optimize those sequences to study biology and improve medicine. And they are already underway.

In a paper published April 5 in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence, the authors detail a language model that used its powers of semantic representation to design a more effective mRNA vaccine such as those used to protect against COVID-19.

Found in Translation

Scientists have a simple way to summarize the flow of genetic information. They call it the central dogma of biology. Information moves from DNA to RNA to proteins. Proteins create the structures and functions of living cells.

Messenger RNA, or mRNA, converts the information into proteins in that final step, called translation. But mRNA is interesting. Only part of it holds the code for the protein. The rest is not translated but controls vital aspects of the translation process.

Governing the efficiency of protein production is a key mechanism by which mRNA vaccines work. The researchers focused their language model there, on the untranslated region, to see how they could optimize efficiency and improve vaccines.

After training the model on a small variety of species, the researchers generated hundreds of new optimized sequences and validated those results through lab experiments. The best sequences outperformed several leading benchmarks for vaccine development, including a 33% increase in the overall efficiency of protein production.

Increasing protein production efficiency by even a small amount provides a major boost for emerging therapeutics, according to the researchers. Beyond COVID-19, mRNA vaccines promise to protect against many infectious diseases and cancers.

Wang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and the principal investigator in this study, said the model’s success also pointed to a more fundamental possibility. Trained on mRNA from a handful of species, it was able to decode nucleotide sequences and reveal something new about gene regulation. Scientists believe gene regulation, one of life’s most basic functions, holds the key to unlocking the origins of disease and disorder. Language models like this one could provide a new way to probe.

Wang’s collaborators include researchers from the biotech firm RVAC Medicines as well as the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The Language of Disease

The new model differs in degree, not kind, from the large language models that power today’s AI chat bots. Instead of being trained on billions of pages of text from the internet, their model was trained on a few hundred thousand sequences. The model also was trained to incorporate additional knowledge about the production of proteins, including structural and energy-related information.

The research team used the trained model to create a library of 211 new sequences. Each was optimized for a desired function, primarily an increase in the efficiency of translation. Those proteins, like the spike protein targeted by COVID-19 vaccines, drive the immune response to infectious disease.

Previous studies have created language models to decode various biological sequences, including proteins and DNA, but this was the first language model to focus on the untranslated region of mRNA. In addition to a boost in overall efficiency, it was also able to predict how well a sequence would perform at a variety of related tasks.

Wang said the real challenge in creating this language model was in understanding the full context of the available data. Training a model requires not only the raw data with all its features but also the downstream consequences of those features. If a program is designed to filter spam from email, each email it trains on would be labeled “spam” or “not spam.” Along the way, the model develops semantic representations that allow it to determine what sequences of words indicate a “spam” label. Therein lies the meaning.

Wang said looking at one narrow dataset and developing a model around it was not enough to be useful for life scientists. She needed to do something new. Because this model was working at the leading edge of biological understanding, the data she found was all over the place.

“Part of my dataset comes from a study where there are measures for efficiency,” Wang said. “Another part of my dataset comes from another study [that] measured expression levels. We also collected unannotated data from multiple resources.” Organizing those parts into one coherent and robust whole — a multifaceted dataset that she could use to train a sophisticated language model — was a massive challenge.

“Training a model is not only about putting together all those sequences, but also putting together sequences with the labels that have been collected so far. This had never been done before.”

The paper, “A 5′ UTR Language Model for Decoding Untranslated Regions of mRNA and Function Predictions,” was published in Nature Machine Learning. Additional authors include Dan Yu, Yupeng Li, Yue Shen and Jason Zhang, from RVAC Medicines; Le Cong from Stanford; and Yanyi Chu and Kaixuan Huang from Princeton.

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Mengdi Wang

Bioengineering and Health

Data Science

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Electrical and Computer Engineering

Omenn-Darling Bioengineering Institute