Skip to content
Engineering Quad in front of Ferris Hall

College Still Solid in U.S. News Online Rankings

The Tickle College of Engineering ranked 29th amongst public universities, 37th overall, in the latest U.S. News and World Report ranking of online master’s engineering programs, released today.

There are many online options for advanced degrees and certificates through the college, with advanced manufacturing, hypersonics, engineering management being joined by computer science in 2022.

“While we are pleased with the strong ranking that we have earned, our main focus is on expanding our opportunities for non-traditional students while maintaining the highest possible online experience moving forward,” said Matthew Mench, dean and Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair in the college. “The recent addition of the online MS in computer science a great step in that direction, and we expect more new programs to follow.”

Rankings are determined based off scoring in five categories:

  • Engagement (25 percent): Takes into account the amount of participation that students have in online courses, the willingness and responsiveness of faculty related to engaging with students, and having an overall program that develops students through a quality educational experience over a reasonable time frame;
  • Faculty Credentials and Training (25 percent): Measures if the faculty leading online courses are as reputable as ones teaching in-person classes, and if they have the resources they need to succeed;
  • Peer Assessment (25 percent): Uses a survey of academic officials to determine what regard other institutions have for a given college, its faculty, its students, and its programs;
  • Services and Technologies (12.5 percent): Looks at the availability of support available to students, how well it mirrors in-person students, and how well various technologies related to online courses are utilized;
  • Student Excellence (12.5 percent): Determines if the rigors of coursework are what they need to be, if students are rising to the challenge in ways that reflect well, and if degrees being conferred are done so in accordance with standards.

Unlike the graduate and undergraduate program rankings that typically get released in spring and fall, respectively, not every discipline within engineering is ranked in the online edition. For 2023, civil, electrical, industrial, management, and mechanical engineering were the five areas of study calculated in the rankings, along with how accessible online programs were for veterans.

Each institution participating in the survey was asked to list up to 15 peers each that they thought excelled in a given area, with listed schools having the requirement of appearing on at least five such lists, in addition to making the overall rankings. In this year’s edition, 119 schools participated, but six were left unranked in accordance with U.S. News regulations.

Read about other UT programs ranked in this year’s ranking.