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TCE Achieves Highest-Ever Status in U.S. News & World Report Rankings

Tickle College of Engineering #29 among public university graduate programs

The Tickle College of Engineering received its highest-ever overall ranking in the U.S. News & World Report graduate rankings, which were released Tuesday, June 18. The college is 53rd overall in the 2024-2025 rankings, a two-spot jump from last year, which was the college’s previous best. Among public universities, TCE rose three spots to a college best-tying 29th.

For the first time, publication metrics were weighted as 10 percent of the research activity distribution in the rankings. Based on this metric alone, UT ranks No. 5 among public colleges in citations per publications, No. 8 in field-weighted citation impact, No. 4 in share of publications cited in the top 5% of most cited journals, and No. 4 in share of publications cited in the top 25% of most cited journals. In these categories, the college is No. 1 amongst all other engineering colleges in the SEC, including both public and private institutions.

“The Tickle College of Engineering has never been in a better position and these rankings serve as confirmation of that,” said Matthew Mench, dean and Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair. “With the added measure of quality of research publications and citations to the algorithm, the rankings are a reflection of what we already knew to be true: TCE is among the very top of distinguished colleges of engineering. We are in a period of strategic growth, and it is only fitting that our highest-ranking ever comes in the midst of that. I have never been more excited for the future of the college.”

The college’s nuclear engineering program ranks 5th among all public institutions and 6th nationally. This is the seventh straight year that UT’s nuclear engineering graduate programs have placed in the top 10 rankings.

Nuclear is one of four TCE programs ranked in the top 30 among all public schools: materials science is 24th, aerospace is 26th, and electrical engineering is 29th. The college has eight total programs in the top 40 among public institutions, with computer engineering at 32nd, industrial at 33rd, mechanical at 37th, and civil at 38th.

The full list of where the college’s engineering twelve disciplines rank among public institutions nationally:

  • Aerospace engineering: 26th
  • Biomedical engineering: 52nd
  • Biosystems engineering: 19th
  • Chemical engineering: 52nd
  • Civil Engineering: 38th
  • Computer engineering: 32nd
  • Computer science: 51st
  • Electrical engineering: 29th
  • Industrial and manufacturing systems: 33rd
  • Materials science: 24th
  • Mechanical engineering: 37th
  • Nuclear: 5th

In addition to the graduate rankings, U.S. News does an undergraduate version each fall and one ranking online programs each January.

About the U.S. News & World Report rankings

Designed for prospective students looking to further their education beyond college, the Best Graduate Schools rankings evaluate programs in a variety of disciplines, including business, education, engineering, law, and nursing.

The Best Graduate Schools rankings in these areas are based on two types of data: expert opinion about program excellence and statistical indicators that measure the quality of a school’s faculty, research, and students.

The data for the rankings in the main six disciplines came from statistical surveys of 2,225 programs and from reputation surveys sent to approximately 5,766 academics and 10,941 professionals, conducted in fall 2023 and early 2024.

Contact

Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)