The Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering has been ranked in the top 5 nationally for more than a decade
Dr. Vigor Yang

AE Chair & W.R. Oakes Professor Vigor Yang

The undergraduate program of the Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering has once again been ranked #2 in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report annual survey, which was released this week. The top-tier ranking continues a tradition of being ranked in the top 5, which stretches back more than a decade for the AE school.

Earlier this year, the AE School's graduate program was also named #2 in the nation by the same survey.

U.S. News, a media company best known for college rankings, publishes its review of undergraduate programs each September. In the 2018 rankings that were released Tuesday, the Georgia Tech College of Engineering was ranked #4, and two of the Institute's engineering schools were ranked #1 in their respective disciplines.

The U.S. News ranking echoes the findings of another revered assessment: the Shanghai Ranking of World Universities recently named Georgia Tech's AE School the #1 aerospace engineering school in the world. The School's chair, Vigor Yang, was thrilled by the news, but was quick to point out that the School's vision will remain unchanged.

"If you step into any of our classrooms, any of our labs, you'll see good is never good enough, and failure is just a moment to regroup," Yang said. "In the AE School, our mission is to keep seeking the next challenge, without pause, and to keep questioning the next conclusion, without fanfare."

Georgia Tech's incoming dean of engineering, Steven W. McLaughlin, likewise greeted the College's great rankings with praise for the entire Tech community.

“This is indeed a reflection of the strong and sustained efforts demonstrated by our engineering chairs, faculty, staff and students,” he said

”We continue to strive to provide the best engineering education possible, and create an environment where today’s students are developed as tomorrow’s thinkers, leaders, and creators. While rankings do not tell the whole story regarding a campus or program, they do demonstrate the commitment that each of the individual Schools have toward our students and to excellence in education and research.”

Program scores are based on surveys of deans and faculty members at other universities. The U.S. News rankings can carry heavy influence among current undergraduates, professors, prospective students, peer institutions and the media.   

The overall College of Engineering (CoE) ranking –  marks the fifth time CoE has grabbed this spot on the U.S. News chart, and it again ties the College with the California Institute of Technology's engineering program.

The Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering held on to its No. 1 ranking for the 23rd year in a row, while the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering earned its discipline’s top slot for the second time. A joint venture with Emory University, the Coulter Department was also first in last year’s review.

All engineering specialties, but one, at Georgia Tech placed in the top 5 of their kinds, a unique distinction for a program as large as CoE’s. The College also had three number two programs in the country - aerospace engineering, civil engineering, and environmental engineering.

U.S News Undergraduate 2018 Rankings

College of Engineering

  • #4 Engineering (no change from 2017 and still tied with Cal Tech)

Engineering Schools

  • #1 Industrial/Manufacturing 
  • #1 Biomedical 
  • #2 Aerospace 
  • #2 Civil 
  • #2 Environmental (up from #4 and tied with Stanford and Michigan)
  • #3 Mechanical 
  • #3 Chemical (up from #4)
  • #4 Electrical 
  • #5 Materials (up from #6)
  • #6 Computer Engineering