The aim of this page is to compare and rank universities, colleges, and schools which offer Petroleum Engineering degrees. These useful tables show an at-a-glance comparison of programs around the country.

The 10 Easiest Petroleum Engineering Programs to Get In To

These are the universities with the highest acceptance rates. Heading the list is Wyoming, who accept 96% of applications.

Note that Utah in particular has a small PE department.

Name	Student Faculty Ratio	Reten. Rate	Grad. Rate	Total PE Degrees Awarded	Student Pop.	% Admitted
Wyoming	15	76	55	64	12820	96
Kansas	17	80	61	28	27180	93
Montana Tech	15	71	38	68	2085	89
Missouri	18	86	65	93	8640	88
West Virginia	21	77	57	95	29175	86
Texas Permian Basin	18	69	40	22	5560	84
Texas Kingsville	20	64	33	25	13246	82
North Dakota	19	80	54	18	14906	82
Utah	17	89	64	5	31515	81
Oklahoma	18	85	66	156	27261	78

The 10 Biggest Petroleum Engineering Departments

Which colleges graduated the most Petroleum Engineers in the last full academic year?

College Name	Student Pop	Bachelors	Masters	Doctoral	Total
Texas A&M	61642	181	92	20	293
Colorado School of Mines	5962	171	28	10	209
Texas at Austin	51313	126	53	21	200
Penn State	47040	137	24	24	185
Louisiana State	31044	147	15	3	165
Texas Tech	35158	129	23	5	157
Oklahoma	27261	125	26	5	156
Houston	40914	65	43	0	108
Tulsa	4682	68	20	8	96
West Virginia	29175	80	15	0	95

The top 10 is dominated by various Texan institutions, as you might expect. However, Colorado and the University of Tulsa are biggest in terms of comparing the Petroleum Engineering department to the whole school.

Colleges With Petroleum Engineering Programs, Ranked by Graduation Rate

From which universities do the highest proportion of students graduate?

College	Admission Rate	Retention Rate	Graduation Rate
Stanford University	5	98	94
University of Southern California	18	97	92
Pennsylvania State University	51	93	86
University of Pittsburgh	54	93	82
University of Texas at Austin	39	94	80
Texas A&M University	67	90	79
Colorado School of Mines	38	94	77
University of Tulsa	44	88	68
Louisiana State University	77	85	67
Marietta College	72	74	66

Stanford is the most selective school in the list by far, which perhaps contributes to its stellar graduation rate. USC has a similar pattern - low admission rates correlating with high graduation rates.

Top 10 Colleges with the Best Student to Faculty Ratio

A lower student to faculty ratio means more teachers per student. More personal attention means faster progress and deeper learning.

College Name	Student Population	Student Faculty Ratio
University of Southern California	42453	9
Marietta College	1500	10
Stanford University	16963	10
University of Tulsa	4682	11
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology	2127	14
University of Alaska, Fairbanks	8620	14
University of Pittsburgh	28617	14
Montana Tech	2085	15
University of Wyoming	12820	15
Colorado School of Mines	5962	16

Of all the colleges that offer Petroleum Engineering programs, USC has the best student / faculty ratio, while almost the entire top 10 have a ratio better than 15.

The 10 Cheapest Petroleum Engineering Schools

Based on ‘Net Price’, explained below the table.

Rank	College Name	Net Price ($)
1	Alaska Fairbanks	8741
2	Texas Permian Basin	8984
3	Louisiana Lafayette	9065
4	West Virginia	10405
5	Montana Tech	11764
6	Texas A & M Kingsville	12078
7	University of Utah	12136
8	University of Wyoming	12148
9	New Mexico Mines and Tech	12489
10	Louisiana State	13552

What is Net Price?

This is a calculation of costs for new full-time students. It is the average price for undergraduate students who paid for in-state or in-district tuition and were given grants or scholarships.

The calculation is made by deducting grants and aid from the total cost of attending the college. Total cost is the outcome of stated tuition and mandatory fees, supplies, books, room and board, and miscellaneous expenses.

The 10 Most Expensive Petroleum Engineering Schools

Based on ‘Net Price’, explained above.

Rank	College Name	Net Price ($)
1	University of Southern California	31384
2	University of Tulsa	25355
3	Pennsylvania State University	24992
4	University of Pittsburgh	24311
5	Colorado School of Mines	24297
6	Marietta College	23539
7	Stanford University	19245
8	University of Kansas	18485
9	University of Texas at Austin	17366
10	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus	16909