Nuclear Leads TCE’s Rise in USNWR Graduate Rankings
Highlighted by the Department of Nuclear Engineering’s rise into the top three, the Tickle College of Engineering earned its all-time best national recognition in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 rankings of top graduate schools.
TCE’s graduate programs achieved a college-best ranking of 52nd overall nationally while remaining ranked 29th among public institutions. Nuclear engineering moved up three spots to earn top three status for the first time as the No. 2 program among public schools and No. 3 nationally to achieve its highest ranking ever.
Civil and industrial each rose seven spots in the overall national rankings, while computer science climbed six spots, materials rose five spots, and mechanical moved up three spots. Materials is ranked a department-best 21st publicly and industrial is ranked a department-best 26th publicly.
“TCE is in the best position it has ever been, which is a credit to all the work being done by the faculty and students along with tremendous departmental leadership in the Tickle College of Engineering,” said Dean Matthew Mench, the Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair of the Tickle College of Engineering. “I believe the best is yet to come, and our success is a direct reflection of a university on the rise.”
With an estimated 40,000-plus jobs across Tennessee in the nuclear industry, UT is playing an essential role in preparing the workforce that will support the state’s growing nuclear economy and drive innovation through research and economic development.
East Tennessee is home to more than 150 nuclear-related companies and the state has demonstrated its commitment to strengthening the nuclear economy. In 2023, Governor Bill Lee created the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council, which included experts from UT, to advise on ways to support the state’s growing nuclear industry. Among the findings were both the recognition of “significant” existing education assets in Tennessee and the need to bolster them even more.
UT was recently selected by the Department of Energy to lead eight national labs and 15 other universities in a $25 million nuclear consortium aimed at advancing knowledge and innovation around global security, clean energy, and artificial intelligence. Nuclear faculty members are also involved in four of the six Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) Collaboratives funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, including a $20 million proposal led by Governor’s Chair for Nuclear Materials Professor Steve Zinkle.
“We like to point to a number of analytic metrics that suggest that we’re one of the top two or three departments in the country and the ranking now reflects that,” said NE Department Head Brian Wirth. “We’re incredibly proud, and we’re going to keep working to provide the best research and academic learning environment that we can for our students to ensure they make impactful contributions throughout their career, and we develop the future leaders for nuclear fission and fusion technology, as well as nuclear security and nuclear medicine.”
2025 TCE Graduate Program USNWR Rankings
- Aerospace Engineering (45th nationally, 33rd public)
- Biomedical Engineering (101st nationally, 60th public)
- Biosystems Engineering (20th nationally, 19th public)
- Chemical Engineering (85th nationally, 56th public)
- Civil Engineering (51st nationally, 34th public)
- Computer Engineering (63rd nationally, 38th public)
- Computer Science (80th nationally, 47th public)
- Electrical Engineering (56th nationally, 31st public)
- Industrial Engineering (37th nationally, 26th public)
- Materials Science and Engineering(35th nationally, 21st public)
- Mechanical Engineering (60th nationally, 36th public)
- Nuclear Engineering (3rd nationally, 2nd public)
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, [email protected])