Overview
Every year we update our list of the nation’s outstanding Petroleum Engineering schools (see the homepage). That list is compiled using an algorithm we’ve developed that takes into account various factors.
A full explanation of those factors can be found here, but briefly, they include the number of Petroleum Engineering degrees awarded (a high number suggests a more developed program and potentially more networking opportunites for graduates of those colleges); admission, graduation, and retention rates; the student to faculty ratio, and the cost of attending that college.
| Rank | School Name | State | S:F Ratio | % Admit | Ret. Rate | Grad. Rate | P.E. Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Texas at Austin | TX | 18 (17) | 39% | 95% (94) | 80% | 206 (+6) |
| 2 (+1) | Colorado School of Mines | CO | 16 | 38% | 94% | 77% | 235 (+26) |
| 3 (-1) | Texas A&M University | TX | 20 | 67% | 90% | 79% | 245 (-48) |
| 4 | Pennsylvania State University | PA | 16 (17) | 51% | 93% | 86% | 231 (+46) |
| 5 | University of Tulsa | OK | 11 | 44% | 88% | 68% | 105 (+9) |
| 6 (+2) | University of Oklahoma | OK | 18 | 78% | 85% | 66% | 188 (+32) |
| 7 | Stanford University Petroleum Engineering | CA | 11 (10) | 5% | 98% | 94% | 17 (+4) |
| 8 (-2) | University of Southern California (USC) | CA | 9 | 18% | 96% (97) | 92% | 80 (-10) |
| 9 (+2) | Louisiana State University | LA | 22 | 77% | 85% | 67% | 200 (+35) |
| 10 (-1) | Texas Tech University | TX | 22 | 63% | 83% | 60% | 163 (+6) |
| 11 (-1) | Missouri University of Science and Technology | MO | 18 | 88% | 87% (86) | 65% | 90 (-3) |
| 12 (+1) | University of Pittsburgh | PA | 15 (14) | 54% | 92% (93) | 82% | 19 (+7) |
| 13 (-1) | New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology | NM | 14 | 24% | 75% (79) | 49% | 51 (-2) |
| 14 | West Virginia University | WV | 20 (21) | 86% | 79% (77) | 57% | 113 (+18) |
| 15 | University of Louisiana at Lafayette | LA | 23 | 55% | 76% | 45% | 86 (+10) |
- Data in brackets shows change since last year or last year’s result.
- On a cellphone, swipe to see more entries.
This Year’s Headlines
The University of Texas at Austin retains its number 1 position for the 3rd year running.
Just below that, Colorado and Texas A+M swapped places. While A+M has the advantage in terms of graduation rate, Colorado does better regarding the student faculty ratio - plus this year their program expanded while the one in Texas shrank.
The next big movers were Oklahoma, who jumped 2 spots, displacing the University of South Carolina who also slipped below Stanford. USC retains by far the best student:faculty ratio, but its program produced fewer graduates.
Also noteworthy was the program expansion at West Virginia, which hit triple digits. They are now mere decimal places behind New Mexico, and not far off the top 10.
Notes:
- 5 schools awarded over 200 PE degrees. In 2015 only one reached that level, and in 2016 only 3.
- There’s a huge difference in student to faculty ratio from the best to worst. USC’s is 9:1 while Louisiana Lafayette is lowest at 23:1.
- Stanford and Pittsburgh grew their tiny programs a lot in percentage terms, but Penn State led the outright growth by adding 46 graduates.
- Since 2015, four schools have more than doubled their Petroleum Engineering program - Penn State (102% increase), Louisiana State (127%), Pittsburgh (171%), and West Virginia (117%).
- In the same period, the colleges with the lowest growth are Texas A+M (7%), Texas Tech (11%), and Tulsa (14%).
- Stanford remains an outlier in terms of pickiness - they accept only 1 in 20 applications. Missouri let almost anybody in (joking!) but still graduate a healthy 65% of students - comparable to a lot of schools who are more ‘exclusive’. That’s good teaching there.
- You can find answers to questions like ‘What are the cheapest petroleum engineering schools?‘ by following that link.
