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CIP 14.0701 Engineering

Chemical Engineering

IPEDS Completions, US Department of Education · 2025

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Total graduates

10,129

2025 · 183 schools

International share

18.0%

1,825 international students

Bachelor's degrees

7,426

7.0% international

Master's degrees

1,543

49.2% international

Overview

Chemical Engineering is a diverse and dynamic field that combines principles of chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics to develop processes for the production, transformation, and use of chemicals and materials. Chemical engineers are tasked with designing and optimizing processes that convert raw materials into valuable products, ensuring that these processes are efficient, sustainable, and safe.

The curriculum for Chemical Engineering typically includes courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, reaction engineering, process design, and materials science. Students also engage in hands-on laboratory work and may participate in internships to gain practical experience in industrial settings.

Chemical engineers play a crucial role in various industries, including pharmaceuticals, energy, materials, food and beverage, and environmental engineering. They work on projects such as developing new drugs, creating sustainable energy sources, and designing processes to minimize waste and environmental impact.

Moreover, the field is increasingly focused on addressing global challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity. This has led to innovations in areas like renewable energy, carbon capture, and green chemistry.

Overall, a degree in Chemical Engineering opens up numerous career opportunities and equips graduates with the skills to tackle complex problems in a wide range of sectors, making it a vital discipline in today’s technology-driven world.

Graduates by year

Graduates by degree level (first and second majors)

AssociateBachelor'sMaster'sDoctoral

From 2002 to 2025, graduates grew 40% and the international share went from 14.5% to 18.0%.

International share (%)
Graduates by group, 2025
White
47.8%
Asian
13.0%
Hispanic
10.9%
Black
3.5%
Other
6.7%
Intl.
18.0%

Colleges that award this degree

In 2025, 183 schools awarded this degree as a first major. The table lists those in the 2027 U.S. News National or Liberal Arts rankings, plus the unranked schools with the most graduates.

RankSchoolStateGraduatesInternational
#1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Massachusetts 78 31
#2 Princeton University New Jersey 69 13
#4 Yale University Connecticut 45 17
#5 California Institute of Technology California 30 10
#5 Stanford University California 55 13
#9 Northwestern University Illinois 60 19
#9 Johns Hopkins University Maryland 127 44
#12 Columbia University in the City of New York New York 114 54
#14 Cornell University New York 123 55
#14 Carnegie Mellon University Pennsylvania 87 30
#16 Washington University in St Louis Missouri 46 15
#16 Brown University Rhode Island 9 4
#16 Vanderbilt University Tennessee 41 6
#16 Rice University Texas 37 14
#20 University of California-Berkeley California 146 30
#20 University of California-Los Angeles California 111 36
#20 University of Notre Dame Indiana 92 18
#25 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Michigan 139 32
#26 University of Virginia-Main Campus Virginia 58 9
#27 University of Southern California California 43 15
#29 University of California-San Diego California 134 16
#29 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Georgia 205 52
#31 Tufts University Massachusetts 35 7
#31 New York University New York 77 23
#34 University of California-Davis California 74 13
#34 University of California-Irvine California 64 16
#34 University of Florida Florida 116 27
#34 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Illinois 149 44
#34 The University of Texas at Austin Texas 185 25
#34 University of Wisconsin-Madison Wisconsin 113 31
#42 Northeastern University Massachusetts 113 18
#42 Villanova University Pennsylvania 68 2
#44 University of California-Santa Barbara California 64 10
#44 Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Jersey 99 21
#44 Case Western Reserve University Ohio 61 16
#44 Ohio State University-Main Campus Ohio 160 27
#44 Lehigh University Pennsylvania 45 3
#49 University of Maryland-College Park Maryland 70 4
#49 University of Rochester New York 39 13
#49 University of Washington-Seattle Campus Washington 120 19
#52 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Virginia 90 8
#55 University of Miami Florida 6 6
#55 The Pennsylvania State University Pennsylvania 172 39
#55 Purdue University-Main Campus Indiana 251 55
#59 Florida State University Florida 59 12
#59 Tulane University of Louisiana Louisiana 15 1
#59 University of Massachusetts-Amherst Massachusetts 63 16
#59 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minnesota 135 42
#59 Stevens Institute of Technology New Jersey 53 9
#59 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Pennsylvania 85 13
#59 Texas A & M University-College Station Texas 233 28
#69 Michigan State University Michigan 78 11
#69 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute New York 73 11
#72 Syracuse University New York 28 6
#73 University of Connecticut Connecticut 55 7
#73 Howard University D.C. 26 4
#73 Worcester Polytechnic Institute Massachusetts 85 8
#73 North Carolina State University at Raleigh North Carolina 234 42
#80 University of California-Riverside California 70 15
#80 Colorado School of Mines Colorado 138 12
#80 Drexel University Pennsylvania 62 11
#80 Clemson University South Carolina 76 3
#85 University of Delaware Delaware 103 24
#85 New Jersey Institute of Technology New Jersey 69 15
#85 University at Buffalo New York 96 37
#95 University of Illinois at Chicago Illinois 56 10
#95 University of Missouri-Columbia Missouri 43 0
#95 Rochester Institute of Technology New York 39 2
#100 Auburn University Alabama 114 20
#100 University of South Florida-Main Campus Florida 59 18
#100 University of Iowa Iowa 46 5
#109 University of Colorado Boulder Colorado 89 8
#109 University of New Hampshire-Main Campus New Hampshire 13 0
#109 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Tennessee 65 14
#116 Iowa State University Iowa 96 17
#116 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Oklahoma 45 6
#116 Brigham Young University-Provo Utah 87 4
#121 Arizona State University-Tempe Arizona 128 27
#121 University of Arizona Arizona 62 8
#121 Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois 23 7
#121 University of Dayton Ohio 34 7
#121 University of South Carolina-Columbia South Carolina 42 12
#133 Miami University-Oxford Ohio 30 0
#137 California State University--Long Beach California 61 4
#137 San Jose State University California 46 8
#137 University of Maryland-Baltimore County Maryland 42 9
#137 Clarkson University New York 49 8
#137 University of Houston Texas 105 20
#148 University of Kansas Kansas 67 8
#148 University of Kentucky Kentucky 64 2
#148 University of Massachusetts-Lowell Massachusetts 64 6
#148 University of Tulsa Oklahoma 22 2
#148 University of Rhode Island Rhode Island 34 3
#156 The University of Alabama Alabama 96 18
#156 Florida A&M University Florida 4 0
#156 Kansas State University Kansas 43 3
#156 CUNY--City College New York 28 7
#156 Oregon State University Oregon 97 22
#156 Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia 27 3
#169 Colorado State University-Fort Collins Colorado 47 7
#169 Michigan Technological University Michigan 90 11
#169 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Nebraska 31 4
#179 University of Louisville Kentucky 38 2
#179 University of Mississippi Mississippi 8 0
#179 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Ohio 105 8
#179 University of Utah Utah 75 7
#186 Wayne State University Michigan 20 3
#186 Texas Tech University Texas 111 17
#191 University of Arkansas Arkansas 54 6
#191 Missouri University of Science and Technology Missouri 80 11
#191 Rowan University New Jersey 32 1
#191 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Oklahoma 44 10
#191 Washington State University Washington 40 7
#202 Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Louisiana 80 12
#202 Ohio University-Main Campus Ohio 34 9
#208 University of Idaho Idaho 19 2
#208 Mississippi State University Mississippi 73 2
#219 University of Nevada-Reno Nevada 26 2
#219 North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina 29 2
#227 University of North Dakota North Dakota 41 4
#227 University of Texas-San Antonio Texas 22 2
#227 West Virginia University West Virginia 33 8
#236 Florida Institute of Technology Florida 29 10
#236 University of New Mexico-Main Campus New Mexico 29 4
#250 New Mexico State University-Main Campus New Mexico 24 2
#250 University of Wyoming Wyoming 19 2
#262 University of Alabama--Huntsville Alabama 22 0
#262 University of Maine Maine 30 2
#276 California Baptist University California 8 1
#276 University of New Haven Connecticut 14 5
#276 Marian University (IN) Indiana 1 0
#276 Western Michigan University Michigan 31 8
#276 Widener University Pennsylvania 11 0
#299 University of Toledo Ohio 35 6
#299 Tennessee Technological University Tennessee 53 1
#308 Montana State University Montana 59 2
#317 Prairie View A&M University Texas 19 0
#332 University of South Alabama Alabama 18 0
#332 Texas A&M University--Kingsville Texas 21 2
#342 University of Akron Ohio 48 4
#342 Cleveland State University Ohio 41 21
#342 University of Texas--Tyler Texas 7 0
#353 University of Louisiana--Lafayette Louisiana 23 0
#353 Youngstown State University Ohio 14 5
#382 Lamar University Texas 25 1
LAC #9 The United States Military Academy at West Point New York 30 1
LAC #29 Bucknell University Pennsylvania 19 3
LAC #30 Lafayette College Pennsylvania 22 2
— University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez Puerto Rico 77 4
— California State Polytechnic University-Pomona California 55 3
— Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Indiana 47 1
— University of Minnesota-Duluth Minnesota 39 2
— South Dakota School of Mines and Technology South Dakota 36 8
— The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art New York 32 3
— Manhattan University New York 31 2
— Louisiana Tech University Louisiana 24 0
— Kettering University Michigan 20 1
— University of Tennessee--Chattanooga Tennessee 20 1
— Universidad Politecnica de Puerto Rico Puerto Rico 16 0
— Trine University Indiana 15 0
— McNeese State University Louisiana 15 0
— New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology New Mexico 15 2
— University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown Pennsylvania 11 0
— University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Wisconsin 9 0
— Tacoma Community College Washington 8 1
— Tuskegee University Alabama 7 0
— Lone Star College System Texas 7 0
— Benedictine College Kansas 6 0
— Whatcom Community College Washington 6 1
— The University of Texas Permian Basin Texas 5 0
— Hampton University Virginia 5 0
— Dordt University Iowa 2 0
— Middlesex Community College Massachusetts 2 0
— Clark College Washington 2 0
— Green River College Washington 2 0
— West Virginia University Institute of Technology West Virginia 2 0
— SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry New York 1 0
— Christian Brothers University Tennessee 1 0

Purple: international students are 25% or more of the school's graduates.

Related jobs and pay

OccupationUS employmentMean hourly wageMean annual wage
Architectural and Engineering Managers 220,260 $87.28 $181,540
Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary 40,270 — $124,520
Chemical Engineers 21,070 $62.49 $129,980

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025.

Graduate counts: IPEDS Completions, US Department of Education, 2002–2025. Rankings: 2027 U.S. News.