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Key Infor­ma­tion:

  • MIT is the #1 best bach­e­lor’s in nuclear engi­neer­ing.
  • The top nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­grams are known for their rig­or­ous cur­ricu­lum that inte­grates advanced sci­ence and engi­neer­ing principles.
  • Grad­u­ates are well-pre­pared for com­plex jobs in nuclear pow­er, research, and safety.
  • It’s impor­tant to choose pro­grams that are accred­it­ed to ensure qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion and career readiness.

It’s easy to see why employ­ers require degrees for nuclear engi­neer­ing jobs. These are, after all, com­plex jobs that require plen­ty of com­plex skills. By earn­ing a nuclear engi­neer degree, you’ll ensure that you’re equipped to han­dle all of the com­plex­i­ties that the job requires, includ­ing work­ing with advanced sci­ence and math con­cepts, blend­ing sci­ence with engi­neer­ing, and work­ing with some of the small­est par­ti­cles known to human­i­ty. Nuclear engi­neer degrees can pave the way to a thriv­ing career, and not just because employ­ers require degrees. Edu­ca­tion often comes with intern­ships, net­work­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, and oth­er advan­tages that can be hard to find out­side of college.

Job safe­ty is anoth­er rea­son to get a nuclear engi­neer degree. Nuclear engi­neers need a clear knowl­edge of pow­er plants, nuclear reac­tors, and even, in some cas­es, nuclear weapons. Nuclear engi­neer degrees pro­vide the best way for future nuclear engi­neers to famil­iar­ize them­selves with these high­ly dan­ger­ous things. Those who are study­ing for a nuclear engi­neer­ing degree learn impor­tant safe­ty pre­cau­tions and protocols.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Nuclear Engineering Degrees

Bachelor’s Degree Center’s mis­sion is to show prospec­tive stu­dents the way to the top nuclear engi­neer­ing schools for their needs. That’s why BDC edi­tors focus on accred­it­ed, rep­utable col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties. Pro­grams are ranked accord­ing to their tuition rate (not includ­ing finan­cial aid), salary poten­tial, and rep­u­ta­tion, using data from IPEDS and Niche.

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Mass­a­chu­setts Insti­tute of Technology’s School of Engineering/Department of Nuclear Sci­ence & Engi­neer­ing (MIT) offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) in Nuclear Sci­ence and Engi­neer­ing that is among the most elite nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees avail­able in the mar­ket­place. MIT’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing includes class­es in fusion ener­gy, nuclear sys­tems, prin­ci­ples of nuclear radi­a­tion mea­sure­ment, quan­tum tech­nol­o­gy, radi­a­tion bio­physics, ana­log elec­tron­ics, and sys­tems analy­sis of the nuclear fuel cycle, to name just a few.

The Mass­a­chu­setts Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy (MIT) was estab­lished in 1861, admit­ting its first class of fif­teen stu­dents only four years lat­er. ABET accred­its the engi­neer­ing pro­grams offered by this world-class insti­tu­tion. MIT’s cam­pus in Cam­bridge runs along­side the Charles Riv­er on the oppos­ing side to Boston University.

What We Like: The Mass­a­chu­setts Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy ranks among the top glob­al scores as not­ed by many col­le­giate rank­ing services.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Sci­ence and Engineering

Mass­a­chu­setts Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy BS in Nuclear Sci­ence and Engineering

2. Georgia Institute of Technology

The Geor­gia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy offers a BS in Nuclear & Radi­o­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing that offers two con­cen­tra­tions with­in the degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram offered. The two aca­d­e­m­ic emphases for Geor­gia Tech’s nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees include radi­o­log­i­cal sci­ence & engi­neer­ing or nuclear engi­neer­ing. Geor­gia Tech’s cur­ricu­lum for the nuclear engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams includes basic prin­ci­ples cours­es in nuclear pow­er eco­nom­ics, detec­tion instru­ments, crit­i­cal­i­ty safe­ty, mate­ri­als man­age­ment, and reg­u­la­to­ry require­ments, to name a few.

The Geor­gia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy is a mul­ti­ple-cam­pus research uni­ver­si­ty that was estab­lished in 1885. As a space-grant high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion, the Geor­gia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy (is home to approx­i­mate­ly 36,350 stu­dents on its cam­pus­es in Atlanta, Savan­nah, France, Chi­na, Ire­land, and Singapore.

What We Like: The Geor­gia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy was found­ed after the Civ­il War in an effort to rebuild the indus­tri­al south­ern US.

Degree: BS in Nuclear and Radi­o­log­i­cal Engineering

Geor­gia Insti­tute of Tech­nol­o­gy BS in Nuclear & Radi­o­log­i­cal Engineering

3. University of California, Berkeley

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berke­ley offers a BS in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing that has received accred­i­ta­tion of ABET. Stu­dents grad­u­at­ing from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia (UC@B) at Berkeley’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram enter the work­force in acad­e­mia, nation­al labs, or gov­ern­ment agen­cies, apply­ing the exper­i­men­tal and ana­lyt­ic tools and skills learned at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia. All nuclear engi­neer­ing degree can­di­dates have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to work in nuclear labs to gath­er pro­fes­sion­al expe­ri­ence dur­ing their bac­calau­re­ate studies.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berke­ley is con­sid­ered the state’s flag­ship. Estab­lished in 1868 as Cal­i­for­ni­a’s first school under the Mor­rill Land Act, UC Berke­ley is now home to approx­i­mate­ly 43,050 stu­dents vying for degrees offered by UC Berke­ley’s four­teen colleges/schools.

What We Like: UC Berkeley’s dis­tin­guished alum­ni include heads of state, chief jus­tices, Nobel lau­re­ates, and Tur­ing award win­ners, among others.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Berke­ley BS in Nuclear Engineering

4. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Michigan’s Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing offers a BS in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing & Radi­o­log­i­cal Sci­ences that offers sev­er­al aca­d­e­m­ic spe­cial­ties to degree can­di­dates. UM’s nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees are avail­able in plasmas/nuclear fusion, mate­ri­als & radi­otin effect, radi­a­tion mea­sure­ments, and fis­sion systems/radiation trans­port. Stu­dents enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michigan’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram find reward­ing careers in med­ical physics, agri­cul­tur­al research, nuclear pow­er plants, or water treatment/environmental stud­ies, among others.

Estab­lished in 1817, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan (UM at Ann Arbor) is a mul­ti­ple-cam­pus uni­ver­si­ty that is home to approx­i­mate­ly 45,860 stu­dents. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Michigan’s cam­pus in Ann Arbor includes a large arbore­tum man­aged by the school and students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan was found­ed pri­or to its state­hood two decades lat­er, in 1837.

Degree: Nuclear Engi­neer­ing & Radi­o­log­i­cal Sciences

Uni­ver­si­ty of Michi­gan BS in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing & Radi­o­log­i­cal Sciences

5. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois’ Grainger Col­lege of Engi­neer­ing offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear, Plas­ma, and Radi­o­log­i­cal Engi­neer­ing that is ranked among the Midwest’s finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in UM’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram have three aca­d­e­m­ic tracks from which to choose – radi­o­log­i­cal, med­ical & instru­ment appli­ca­tions, plas­ma & fusion, and pow­er, safe­ty & the envi­ron­ment. Each of these nuclear engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams requires the com­ple­tion of 128 semes­ter units to graduate.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois at Urbana-Cham­paign was estab­lished as a pub­lic insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion in 1867. The school serves more than 50,550 stu­dents from its cam­pus in the twin cities of Cham­paign and Urbana.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois is rec­og­nized as a space-grant, land-grant, and sea-grant university.

Degree: BS in Nuclear, Plas­ma, and Radi­o­log­i­cal Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of Illi­nois BS in Nuclear, Plas­ma, and Radi­o­log­i­cal Engineering

6. University of Texas at Austin

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas’s Cock­rell Engi­neer­ing School offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Physics that offers an oppor­tu­ni­ty to gain an under­grad­u­ate Nuclear and Radi­a­tion Engi­neer­ing Pro­gram cer­tifi­cate. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas Austin’s nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees offer an aca­d­e­m­ic empha­sis in either radi­a­tion physics (among oth­ers), which both require the com­ple­tion of 126 semes­ter units. The radi­a­tion physics degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram is a great start­ing pro­gram for those stu­dents who wish to enter the field of nuclear engi­neer­ing or radi­a­tion engi­neer­ing or to fur­ther their studies.

Estab­lished in 1883, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas (UT at Austin) is the Lone Star State’s flag­ship cam­pus with a stu­dent enroll­ment of approx­i­mate­ly 51,550 stu­dents. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas, a rec­og­nized pub­lic ivy league high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion, is also a space-grant school that is com­prised of sev­en­teen libraries, six muse­ums on its 300+urban acre campus.

What We Like: The school also oper­ates a research cam­pus north of the main cam­pus and is home to the tallest bell tow­er in the state.

Degree: BS in Physics

Uni­ver­si­ty of Texas BS in Physics — Nuclear

7. North Carolina State University

North Car­oli­na State University’s Nuclear Engi­neer­ing Depart­ment offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing is one of North Carolina’s finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees avail­able in the mar­ket­place. Stu­dents enrolled in NC State’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram may opt for an accel­er­at­ed bac­calau­re­ate and master’s degree com­bo pro­gram. North Car­oli­na State University’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram requires the com­ple­tion of 123 cred­it units to grad­u­ate. Class­es for this degree include flu­id mechan­ics, nuclear reac­tor ener­gy con­ver­sion, ener­gy ther­mo­dy­nam­ics, and physics for engi­neers and sci­en­tists, to name a few.

Found­ed in 1887, NC State or North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty is a land-grant uni­ver­si­ty in Raleigh, North Car­oli­na. This space-grant and sea-grant insti­tu­tion is home to 36,150 stu­dents, which makes North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty the largest of all insti­tu­tions of high­er edu­ca­tion in the state.

What We Like: North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished to focus on prac­ti­cal and lib­er­al edu­ca­tion, includ­ing mechan­i­cal and agri­cul­tur­al arts.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Nuclear Engineering

8. Colorado School of Mines

The Col­orado School of Mines offers a BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing that is ranked among the top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees. The Col­orado School of Mines’ degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram offers four aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tions in ener­gy sys­tems, inte­grat­ed cir­cuits & elec­tron­ics, infor­ma­tion sys­tems & sci­ences, and wire­less com­mu­ni­ca­tions. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in Col­orado School of Mines’ under­grad­u­ate degree pro­gram must com­plete 128 semes­ter cred­its to grad­u­ate. Class­es include feed­back con­trol sys­tems, micro­com­put­er archi­tec­ture & inter­fac­ings, dif­fer­en­tial equa­tions, and dig­i­tal log­ic, among others.

Estab­lished in 1974, the Col­orado School of Mines is a pub­lic school ded­i­cat­ed to math, sci­ence, and engi­neer­ing. The Col­orado School of Mines’ s sub­ur­ban cam­pus in Gold­en is home to approx­i­mate­ly 6,050 students.

What We Like: With regard to min­er­al & min­ing engi­neer­ing, the Col­orado School of Mines is rec­og­nized by QS World Rank­ings as the top high­er learn­ing institution.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Col­orado School of Mines BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

9. University of Wisconsin — Madison

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin Engi­neer­ing Col­lege offers one of Wisconsin’s finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing that offers stu­dents two aca­d­e­m­ic tracks in radi­a­tion sci­ences, pow­er. Degree can­di­dates seek­ing to fin­ish this Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin Madi­son degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram must com­plete 129 semes­ter units to meet grad­u­a­tion require­ments. Class­es includ­ed for this degree’s cur­ricu­lum are nuclear reac­tor the­o­ry, ion­iz­ing radi­a­tion, nuclear instru­men­tal lab, and gen­er­al physics, to name a few.

Found­ed in 1848 as a school ded­i­cat­ed to research, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin (UW at Madi­son) is home to approx­i­mate­ly 44,350 stu­dents. The university’s cam­pus cov­ers near­ly 1,000 acres.

What We Like: UW at Madi­son is orga­nized under thir­teen colleges/schools and has a liv­ing alum­nus that nears 500,000.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

10. Texas A&M University

The Nuclear Engi­neer­ing Depart­ment at the Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of the Lone Star State’s finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing. Stu­dents enrolled in Texas A&M’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram take class­es in exper­i­men­tal physics, New­ton­ian mechan­ics for engi­neer­ing, sta­tis­tics for nuclear engi­neer­ing, flu­id mechan­ics, and radi­o­log­i­cal safe­ty, to name a few.

Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished as a land-grant mechan­i­cal col­lege under the Mor­rill Land Grant Act in 1971. Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty is also a space-grant and sea-grant school, which makes Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty the school in the state with all three uni­ver­si­ty designations.

What We Like: Texas A&M University’s stu­dent enroll­ment that nears 70,000 stu­dents makes the Col­lege Sta­tion, TX, school among the largest of all schools in the Unit­ed States.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Nuclear Engineering

11. The Ohio State University

The Ohio State University’s Engi­neer­ing Col­lege offers a BS in Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­ing Engi­neer­ing (CSE) that is con­sid­ered among Ohio’s top ABET-accred­it­ed nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in OSU’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram have a vari­ety of oppor­tu­ni­ties to study abroad or par­tic­i­pate in inter­na­tion­al intern­ships dur­ing their aca­d­e­m­ic tenure. Class­es for this degree pro­gram in nuclear engi­neer­ing include fun­da­men­tals of engineering,

Found­ed as a land-grant high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion, Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty (OSU) is also a sea-grant and space-grant Uni­ver­si­ty in Colum­bus. Addi­tion­al­ly, near­ly 69,000 stu­dents attend class­es offered online and on the school’s five region­al cam­pus­es in Mario, Newark, Woost­er, Lima, and Mansfield.

What We Like: Pres­i­dent Hayes, pri­or to tak­ing the high­est office in the land, was fun­da­men­tal in devel­op­ing the school into the com­pre­hen­sive uni­ver­si­ty that it is today.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

Ohio State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

12. Kansas State University

Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of Kansas’ finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Mechan­i­cal & Nuclear Engi­neer­ing with a nuclear option. Stu­dents enrolled in Kansas State University’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram are required to com­plete 125 semes­ter units to meet the program’s grad­u­a­tion require­ments. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from Kansas State University’s mechan­i­cal and nuclear engi­neer­ing can opt for a con­cur­rent Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Mechan­i­cal & Nuclear Engi­neer­ing along with a Mas­ter of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion degree (MBA) program.

Estab­lished under the Mor­rill Act in 1863, Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty is a research high­er learn­ing insti­tute that serves more than 20,550 stu­dents online and from its Man­hat­tan, Kansas cam­pus. Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates satel­lite and branch facil­i­ties in Sali­nas and Olathe.

What We Like: Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the first of all insti­tu­tions of high­er edu­ca­tion that were estab­lished in the state of Kansas.

Degree: BS in Mechan­i­cal and Nuclear Engineering

Kansas State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Mechan­i­cal and Nuclear Engineering

13. University of South Carolina

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na offers one of the State of South Carolina’s finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing. Most stu­dents com­plete this degree in four years, but many opt for an accel­er­at­ed dual degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram that offers degree can­di­dates both an under­grad­u­ate and a grad­u­ate degree in as few as five years.

Estab­lished as SC Col­lege in 1801, the Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na is a research school and the flag­ship school of the Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na sys­tem. Addi­tion­al­ly, this sea-grant uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates a num­ber of schools through­out the state with a sys­tem-wide stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 52,550 students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na’s first-class enrolled a total of nine stu­dents in 1805.

Degree: B.S. in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of South Car­oli­na B.S. in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

14. University of Idaho

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Idaho’s Engi­neer­ing Col­lege offers a BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing that is among the top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees avail­able in the mar­ket­place. US News rec­og­nizes the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ida­ho as the best val­ue of a pub­lic school in the west­ern US. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Idaho’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram has received accred­i­ta­tion from the Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion of ABET. Class­es for Idaho’s under­grad­u­ate degree includes sig­nals and sys­tems, micro­con­trollers, dig­i­tal lab, ener­gy sys­tems, and prob­a­bil­i­ty and sta­tis­tics, plus an elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing senior design project, among others.

Estab­lished by the Ida­ho ter­ri­to­r­i­al leg­is­la­ture in 1889, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ida­ho was cre­at­ed as a result of the Mor­rill Land Grant Act. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Idaho’s rur­al cam­pus in Moscow serves more than 10,550 stu­dents and cov­ers more than 1,400 acres.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ida­ho held the dis­tinc­tion as Idaho’s only high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tion for more than sev­en decades.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of Ida­ho BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

15. University of Tennessee — Knoxville

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Tennessee’s Depart­ment of Nuclear Engi­neer­ing offers one of Tennessee’s top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing with a radi­o­log­i­cal empha­sis. Stu­dents enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Tennessee’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram have the option of enrolling in an accel­er­at­ed bach­e­lor’s and mas­ter’s degree com­bo pro­gram that can be fin­ished in only 60 months or five years. Stu­dents par­tic­i­pate in near­by asso­ci­a­tions with the Y‑12 Nation­al Secu­ri­ty Com­plex as well as the Oak Ridge Lab. Degree can­di­dates have the oppor­tu­ni­ty of select­ing from four minor in nuclear safe­ty, con­cepts of cyber­se­cu­ri­ty, nuclear decom­mis­sion­ing, and reli­a­bil­i­ty and main­tain­abil­i­ty engineering.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ten­nessee (UT at Knoxville) was found­ed as Blount Col­lege in 1794 but became East Ten­nessee Uni­ver­si­ty in 1840. More than 30,550 stu­dents attend class­es offered by UT study­ing from the uni­ver­si­ty’s eleven colleges/schools.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Ten­nessee is rec­og­nized to con­tribute more than 1.5 bil­lion dol­lars to the state’s economy.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing: Radiological

Uni­ver­si­ty of Ten­nessee BS in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing: Radiological

16. Oregon State University

The Engi­neer­ing Col­lege at Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing that is one of Oregon’s top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees avail­able in the mar­ket­place. Ore­gon State University’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram has received accred­i­ta­tion from the Engi­neer­ing Accred­i­ta­tion Com­mis­sion of ABET. Stu­dents must com­plete class­es in heat trans­fer, flu­id mechan­ics, mate­ri­als sci­ence, nuclear rules & reg­u­la­tions, nuclear reac­tor labs, neu­tron­ic analy­sis, radi­a­tion pro­tec­tion, and radi­a­tion shield­ing & exter­nal dosime­try, to name a few.

Estab­lished under the Mor­rill Col­lege Land Grant Act in 1868, Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty is one of only a hand­ful of schools that are also sea-grant, space-grant, and sun-grant insti­tu­tions of high­er education.

What We Like: Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the largest, in terms of enroll­ment, of all schools with­in the state.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

Ore­gon State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Nuclear Engineering

17. Temple University

Tem­ple University’s Engi­neer­ing Col­lege offers a BS in Engi­neer­ing Tech­nol­o­gy, which is one of the top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees avail­able on the east coast. This degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram offers degree can­di­dates four aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tions in com­put­er tech­nol­o­gy, con­struc­tion tech­nol­o­gy, mechanical/manufacturing tech­nol­o­gy, or the gen­er­al tech­nol­o­gy track. Stu­dents are offered coop­er­a­tive edu­ca­tion options for this 124 ABE-accred­it­ed degree pro­gram. Degree can­di­dates are offered the oppor­tu­ni­ty to study inter­na­tion­al­ly dur­ing the sum­mer or semes­ter. Class­es for this degree include engi­neer­ing eco­nom­ics, ther­mo­dy­nam­ics, applied strength, elec­tri­cal cir­cuits, and elec­tri­cal devices and sys­tems, plus a cap­stone project.

Estab­lished in 1884, Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty began when Min­is­ter Rus­sell Con­well began tutor­ing a stu­dent each night. Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty is a pub­lic insti­tu­tion that oper­ates mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es that serve approx­i­mate­ly 39,050 students.

What We Like: Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty holds the dis­tinc­tion of prepar­ing the largest num­ber of Pennsylvania’s pro­fes­sion­al practitioners.

Degree: BS in Engi­neer­ing Technology

Tem­ple Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Engi­neer­ing Technology

18. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institue

Rens­se­laer Poly­tech­nic Institute’s Engi­neer­ing School offers one of the Empire State’s finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in Rens­se­laer Poly­tech­nic Institute’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram can select from con­cen­tra­tions in reac­tor mate­ri­als, ther­mal-hydraulics, reliability/safety, fis­sion reac­tor, reac­tor engi­neer­ing, and health physics. Class­es for this degree pro­gram include engi­neer­ing analy­sis, nuclear phe­nom­e­na, fun­da­men­tals of nuclear engi­neer­ing, flu­id mechan­ics, nuclear instru­men­ta­tion & mea­sure­ment, and mod­el­ing & analy­sis of uncer­tain­ty, to name a few.

Found­ed in 1824, Rens­se­laer Poly­tech­nic Insti­tute oper­ates sev­er­al cam­pus­es in Troy, New York, as well as satel­lite facil­i­ties in Gro­ton and Hart­ford, Con­necti­cut. The school’s cam­pus­es serve more than 8,050 students.

What We Like: Rens­se­laer Poly­tech­nic Insti­tute is rec­og­nized as the old­est tech­no­log­i­cal uni­ver­si­ty in the Eng­lish-speak­ing world.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

Rens­se­laer Poly­tech­nic Insti­tute BS in Nuclear Engineering

19. University of Massachusetts-Lowell

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts-Low­ell offers one of the top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing with an aca­d­e­m­ic empha­sis in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing. Stu­dents enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts at Lowell’s ABET-accred­it­ed degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram take class­es in biol­o­gy for engi­neers, fun­da­men­tals of elec­tric­i­ty, organ­ic chem­istry, ther­mo­dy­nam­ics, flu­id mechan­ics, sep­a­ra­tion process, chem­i­cal reac­tion engi­neer­ing, and engi­neer­ing and ethics, to name a few. All degree can­di­dates must com­plete 134 cred­it units to meet the engi­neer­ing program’s grad­u­a­tion requirements.

Estab­lished as a teacher’s train­ing school in 1894, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts (UMass at Low­ell) is a mul­ti-cam­pus insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that serves more than 18,250 students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Mass­a­chu­setts holds the dis­tinc­tion of being the first uni­ver­si­ty across the coun­try to award a degree in music education.

Degree: BS in Chem­i­cal Engi­neer­ing: Nuclear Engineering

20. Pennsylvania State University

Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of the top Penn­syl­va­nia nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing. Stu­dents inter­est­ed in PSU’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram can begin the degree at any of the Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty’s cam­pus­es but must com­plete the degree at the Uni­ver­si­ty Park Cam­pus. Degree can­di­dates are man­dat­ed to com­plete 129 semes­ter cred­its to grad­u­ate. The core cur­ricu­lum for the degree includes the strength of mate­ri­als, vec­tor analy­sis, flu­id flow, ther­mo­dy­nam­ics, intro to reac­tor design, and nuclear & radio­chem­istry, to name a few.

Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty (PSU) was found­ed in 1855 and is among only a hand­ful of insti­tu­tions of high­er edu­ca­tion to pos­sess all four-uni­ver­si­ty des­ig­na­tion in space, land, sea, and sun.

What We Like: Unique­ly, Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates two law schools in Uni­ver­si­ty Park and anoth­er in Carlisle, PA.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

Penn­syl­va­nia State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Nuclear Engineering

21. University of Pittsburgh

The Swan­son Engi­neer­ing Col­lege at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Pitts­burgh offers one of the top Penn­syl­va­nia nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence in Engi­neer­ing degree (BSE) pro­gram with a spe­cial­ty in Nuclear Ener­gy. Stu­dents enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Pittsburgh’s PSU’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram com­plete class­es in applied flu­id mechan­ics, nuclear plant tech­nol­o­gy, fun­da­men­tals of nuclear reac­tors, mechan­i­cal mea­sure­ments, and inter­me­di­ate elec­tric­i­ty & mag­net­ism, to name a few. Total course­work for grad­u­a­tion equals 129 semes­ter credits.

Estab­lished as an acad­e­my in 1787 when the city was the Amer­i­can Fron­tier, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Pitts­burgh is now a com­pre­hen­sive uni­ver­si­ty that serves near­ly 29,000 stu­dents each year. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Pitts­burgh is orga­nized into sev­en­teen grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate schools.

What We Like: Sev­er­al build­ings locat­ed on the university’s cam­pus are list­ed with the country’s Nation­al Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places.

Degree: BSE in Engi­neer­ing Sci­ence: Nuclear Energy

Uni­ver­si­ty of Pitts­burgh Degree: BSE in Engi­neer­ing Sci­ence: Nuclear Energy

22. Virginia Commonwealth University

Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth University’s Engi­neer­ing College/Mechanical & Nuclear Engi­neer­ing Depart­ment offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing with an aca­d­e­m­ic track in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing that is one of Virginia’s top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth University’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing are required to com­plet­ed either a coop­er­a­tive edu­ca­tion require­ment or a super­vised and pre-approved intern­ship. Stu­dents grad­u­ate and choose to fur­ther their edu­ca­tion or enter the work­force in med­i­cine, engi­neer­ing, law, or even busi­ness, among others.

Estab­lished in 1838 by the merg­er of two high­er learn­ing insti­tu­tions, Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth Uni­ver­si­ty is a state-fund­ed uni­ver­si­ty that serves approx­i­mate­ly 29,450 stu­dents online and from its Rich­mond campus.

What We Like: Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates two pri­ma­ry cam­pus­es in the Rich­mond area, plus sev­er­al inter­na­tion­al facil­i­ties in Qatar and oth­er locations.

Degree: BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing – Nuclear Engineering

Vir­ginia Com­mon­wealth Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing – Nuclear Engineering

23. Tarleton State University

Tar­leton State Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Physics and Nuclear Engi­neer­ing that is ranked among the Lone Star State’snuclear engi­neer­ing degrees. This degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing requires the com­ple­tion of 120 semes­ter units over eight-semes­ters or four years. Stu­dents grad­u­ate from Tar­leton State University’s under­grad­u­ate engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram to fur­ther their edu­ca­tion or to enter the work­force as a physi­cist, a bio­engi­neer, or a med­ical tech­ni­cian, to name a few.

Estab­lished in 1899, Tar­leton State Uni­ver­si­ty is a mem­ber school of the Texas A&M Uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem in cen­tral Texas. The university’s cam­pus in Stephenville is home to approx­i­mate­ly 13,150 students.

What We Like: Tar­leton State Uni­ver­si­ty began with an endow­ment by its name­sake and now offers about 100 aca­d­e­m­ic degree and cer­tifi­cate programs.

Degree: BS in Physics: Nuclear Engineering

Tar­leton State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Physics and Nuclear Engineering

24. Idaho State University

Ida­ho State University’s School of Sci­ence & Engi­neer­ing offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing (NE) that ranked among Idaho’s top nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees. Stu­dents enrolled in Ida­ho State University’s degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing study at one of only 25 insti­tu­tions of high­er edu­ca­tion with a nuclear reac­tor. This ABET-accred­it­ed degree pro­gram is one of only six pro­grams that are locat­ed to the west of the Mis­sis­sip­pi Riv­er. Ida­ho State Uni­ver­si­ty is locat­ed less than one hour from the nation­al lab locat­ed in Idaho.

Found­ed as a state col­lege in 1947, Ida­ho State Uni­ver­si­ty is now a com­pre­hen­sive uni­ver­si­ty that offers more than 275 aca­d­e­m­ic and cer­tifi­cate pro­grams. The university’s cam­pus in Pocatel­lo is home to approx­i­mate­ly 12,350 students.

What We Like: Ida­ho State Uni­ver­si­ty offers degree can­di­dates and stu­dents an impres­sive 13 to 1 stu­dent to fac­ul­ty ratio.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

Ida­ho State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Nuclear Engineering

25. South Carolina State University

South Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of the South’s finest nuclear engi­neer­ing degrees with its Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) pro­gram in Nuclear Engi­neer­ing. The degree in nuclear engi­neer­ing offered by South Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty began with five stu­dents and had an enroll­ment of 454 stu­dents in 2019. South Car­oli­na State University’s nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram has received accred­i­ta­tion from ABET. It is not­ed that SC State offers the only bac­calau­re­ate degree pro­gram in nuclear engi­neer­ing in South Carolina.

Estab­lished as a land-grant uni­ver­si­ty in 1896, South Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty now serves approx­i­mate­ly 3,000 stu­dents online and from its Orange­burg campus.

What We Like: South Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty is the only HBCU land-grant uni­ver­si­ty in the state and is also a mem­ber school of the Thur­good Mar­shall Col­lege Fund.

Degree: BS in Nuclear Engineering

South Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Nuclear Engineering

Is ABET Accreditation Important for Nuclear Engineering?

What degree do you need for nuclear engi­neer­ing? Why get a nuclear engi­neer degree? There are sev­er­al rea­sons why you’ll need a nuclear engi­neer­ing degree to get a nuclear engi­neer­ing job, but the sim­plest answer is that employ­ers require it. To go into the nuclear engi­neer­ing field, you should have a bachelor’s degree or higher.

So what degree do you need to be a nuclear engi­neer? At the very least, you’ll need a BS in nuclear engi­neer­ing. Some nuclear engi­neers also earn a master’s degree or doc­tor­al degree. But there are a lot of col­leges with nuclear engi­neer­ing major pro­grams. How do you choose between nuclear engi­neer colleges?

When look­ing for the best nuclear engi­neer­ing schools in the world, the first thing you should do is check for accred­i­ta­tion. This can mean nation­al or region­al accred­i­ta­tion, but either way, you’ll want a school that can prove that it has high stan­dards for edu­ca­tion. Almost all of the best schools for nuclear engi­neer­ing are ABET-accred­it­ed. That includes pri­vate and pub­lic uni­ver­si­ty programs.

With some sub­jects, though, it’s not always enough that the school is accred­it­ed. You’ll want to make sure that the pro­gram is accred­it­ed, too. If you’re going into nuclear engi­neer­ing, this means look­ing for ABET-accred­it­ed nuclear engi­neer­ing schools. ABET, or the Accred­i­ta­tion Board for Engi­neer­ing and Tech­nol­o­gy, is “a non­prof­it, non-gov­ern­men­tal agency that accred­it­ed pro­grams in applied and nat­ur­al sci­ence, com­put­ing, engi­neer­ing and engi­neer­ing technology.”

Oth­er ABET-accred­it­ed schools include:

  • Uni­ver­si­ty of Flori­da in Gainesville
  • Unit­ed States Mil­i­tary Acad­e­my at West Point
  • Mis­souri Uni­ver­si­ty of Science
  • Uni­ver­si­ty of New Mexico
  • Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty (West Lafayette, IN)
  • Mis­souri Uni­ver­si­ty of Sci­ence and Technology

Ide­al­ly, you’ll find an ABET-accred­it­ed nuclear engi­neer­ing pro­gram when you choose your school. If a pro­gram is ABET-accred­it­ed for nuclear engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy, it means that the pro­gram meets ABET’s trust­ed stan­dards, so you can rest assured that you’ll get a qual­i­ty, rel­e­vant education.

That’s not to say that you should nec­es­sar­i­ly avoid every non-ABET accred­it­ed nuclear engi­neer­ing degree col­leges. There are some excel­lent pro­grams that haven’t been accred­it­ed for one rea­son or anoth­er. For exam­ple, you may find an engi­neer­ing pro­gram that’s in the process of earn­ing its accred­i­ta­tion status.

Still, your safest bet is look­ing for the ABET seal of approval right off the bat. With a non-accred­it­ed pro­gram, you may have to do a lot of dig­ging to find the best nuclear engi­neer­ing under­grad­u­ate schools. The best thing about ABET is that it does the dig­ging for you, so you don’t have to wor­ry about get­ting a less than amaz­ing education.

Plus, ABET accred­i­ta­tion can help you when it’s time to apply for jobs or grad­u­ate pro­grams. Employ­ers tend to rec­og­nize ABET-accred­it­ed pro­grams, so they won’t wor­ry about your edu­ca­tion when they see the pro­gram on your resume.

What Will I Learn in a Nuclear Engineering Degree Program?

Nuclear engi­neer­ing degree require­ments are chal­leng­ing, and with good rea­son. As cov­ered above, nuclear engi­neer­ing requires a lot of com­plex math, sci­ence, and engi­neer­ing skills. It also uses a lot of rel­a­tive­ly new tech­nol­o­gy, so at the end of the day, this career cov­ers every let­ter of the STEM acronym.

A chal­leng­ing career requires a chal­leng­ing degree to go with it, and by meet­ing a program’s nuclear engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor degree require­ments and earn­ing a diplo­ma, you’ll prove that you have what it takes to thrive in a nuclear engi­neer­ing career.

Dur­ing the first year or two of col­lege, nuclear engi­neer­ing stu­dents gen­er­al­ly take a lot of gen­er­al cours­es, depend­ing on the core require­ments for their uni­ver­si­ty. How­ev­er, since nuclear engi­neer­ing is a BS degree, these stu­dents usu­al­ly aren’t required to take quite as many gen­er­al cours­es as their friends in BA pro­grams. These stu­dents also take high­er-lev­el math cours­es such as trigonom­e­try. Oth­er nuclear engi­neer­ing degree require­ments include upper-lev­el sci­ence cours­es, safe­ty cours­es, and intro­duc­tions to the nuclear engi­neer­ing career as a whole.

Many top nuclear engi­neer­ing col­leges also ask that stu­dents take sev­er­al elec­tives as part of their nuclear engi­neer degree require­ments. These elec­tives usu­al­ly focus on spe­cif­ic areas of nuclear engi­neer­ing. For stu­dents who know exact­ly what they want to do with their degrees, these elec­tive cours­es can help them tai­lor those degrees toward their career goals.

Relat­ed Rankings:

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Nuclear Engineering

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Nuclear Engineering

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Nuclear Engineering