Purdue Engineering scores its most-ever top 5 undergraduate rankings
5 programs in their top 5 specialty rankings, 8 programs in top 10
Purdue Engineering has set a new record for the college, with five of its undergraduate programs ranking in the top 5 for their specialties in the 2027 edition of U.S. News & World Report’s Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs.
A total of eight programs placed in the top 10 for their specialties in the rankings released Sept. 23, 2026.
The college’s specialties ranked in the top 5 are: agricultural and biological engineering (ABE), No. 2; industrial engineering (IE), No. 2; aeronautical and astronautical engineering (AAE), No. 3; civil engineering (CE), No. 4; and mechanical engineering (ME), No. 4.
Rounding out the top 10 Purdue Engineering specialty rankings are materials engineering (MSE), No. 7; computer engineering (CmpE), No. 9; and electrical engineering (EE), No. 10.
In addition, two specialties in the Department of Computer Science (CS), jointly affiliated with the College of Science and the College of Engineering, ranked in the top 10: cybersecurity, No. 6, and software engineering, No. 9.
Among individual programs’ achievements:
- ME climbed four places to its all-time high.
- MSE rose three notches to its best-ever ranking.
- ABE moved up two positions.
- IE extended its stretch at its all-time high to seven years in a row.
- AAE held its record ranking for the fourth consecutive year.
- CE reached four straight years in the top 5 – its longest-ever top 5 streak.
- Biomedical engineering (BME) tied its previous all-time high of No. 3 among institutions without a medical school or a jointly administered BME program.
The newly released undergraduate rankings follow the College of Engineering’s contribution to Purdue University’s second consecutive No. 6 ranking in the 2027 U.S. News peer survey of colleges with co-ops and internships.
“These latest U.S. News undergraduate rankings reflect the continuously advancing affordable excellence at scale that we offer to prepare next-generation engineers for rewarding, high-impact careers,” said Mark Lundstrom, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Purdue’s College of Engineering. “We thank our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and industry partners for contributing to our exceptional stature.”
U.S. News & World Report Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs rankings are based solely on the judgments of deans and senior faculty at peer institutions who participated in a peer assessment survey.
Purdue’s undergraduate engineering program ranked No. 8 overall for the fourth year running and No. 5 among public institutions for the 25th consecutive year. CS’ overall No. 14 position was its best-ever ranking.