Top Electrical Engineering Schools in 2016

The QS World University Rankings by Subject includes an electrical engineering ranking, which features 300 of the world’s top universities in this field.

Read on for the top 10 table and an overview of the world’s top electrical engineering universities in different regions, or click here to view the full results.

Top electrical engineering schools in the US & Canada 

Always a strong contender, the US is home to 57 entries in the electrical engineering ranking, with five in the top 10 and a further 11 in the top 50. This includes California Institute of Technology (Caltech, 12^th for electrical engineering), Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech, 14^th), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (18^th) and the University of Michigan (joint 23^rd).

Canada claims 15 of the world’s top electrical engineering universities, with four in the top 100; the University of Toronto  and the University of British Colombia are in the top 50, while McGill University and the University of Waterloo are ranked 51-100.

Top electrical engineering schools in Europe

The UK has 27 representatives featured in the electrical engineering ranking, including three positions in the top 10 (above). Four more UK universities are ranked in the global top 100 for this subject: the University of Manchester, UCL (University College London), the University of Edinburgh and the University of Southampton.

Italy is another strong country in this subject, with 12 entries in the ranking, including Politecnico di Torino and Politecnico di Milano in the top 50. Germany has 10 entries, again with two in the top 50: Technische Universität München (TU Munich) and Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin).

Nine more leading electrical engineering departments can be found in Spain, with the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya ranked in the top 100. France offers seven representatives, with new entries CentraleSupélec and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 the highest ranked at 101-150. Next up is Ireland with five top universities in this field, of which two are in the top 150. 

Heading north to the Nordic countries, Sweden claims five of the world’s leading universities for electrical engineering, including the highest-ranked Nordic entrant, KTH, Royal Institute of Technology (17^th), as well as two more universities in the top 100. Denmark has three top electrical engineering universities, led by Aalborg University (joint 37^th). Finland has two entries, including Aalto University in the 101-150 range, while Norway’s sole representative, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, is also ranked 101-150.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Netherlands is home to three more top universities to study electrical engineering, including Delft University of Technology in 31^st place (up from 50^th last year). Belgium, Greece and Russia also have three entries, the highest-ranked of which are the Belgian Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in the top 100 and the Greek National Technical University of Athens in the top 150.

Each home to two of the world’s top electrical engineering schools are Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland and Switzerland. Of these, Swiss universities perform the best, with ETH Zurich in 7^th place and Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) not far behind at 13^th in this subject.

Finally, Hungary, Portugal and new entrant Serbia each feature with one entry, with Portugal’s University of Porto the highest ranked of these, in the 151-200 range.

Top electrical engineering schools in Asia 

China is the leading Asian country in this subject, with 21 entries in the ranking, five of which are in the top 100. These include Tsinghua University, Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in the top 50.

South Korea has 12 entries in the electrical engineering ranking, of which half are in the top 100, including KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (joint 20^th) and Seoul National University (29^th).

Japan is also home to 12 of the world’s top electrical engineering universities, including two in the top 50: the University of Tokyo (16^th) and the Tokyo Institute of Technology (19^th). A further three Japanese schools are ranked within the top 100.

Taiwan is next with 11 representatives featured in the electrical engineering ranking, including three in the top 50: National Taiwan University (NTU), National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University.

Malaysia and India each boast eight of the world’s top electrical engineering schools, with six of India’s entries in the top 100. Malaysia’s highest ranked university is Universiti Malaya (joint 37^th), while the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi leads the way for India in joint 45^th place.

All of Hong Kong’s five entries boast positions in the top 100 of the electrical engineering ranking. The three highest-ranked are the Chinese University of Hong Kong (joint 20^th), the University of Hong Kong (22^nd) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST;  25^th).

Pakistan, Thailand and Singapore each offer two top electrical engineering schools, with both of Singapore’s entries boasting positions in the top 10 (see the table above). Indonesia also has one entry in the ranking, the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) at 251-300.

Top electrical engineering schools in Australia & New Zealand 

Australia is home to 15 of the world’s top electrical engineering schools, seven of which are in the top 100. All boasting positions in the top 50 are the University of Melbourne, Australian National University and the University of New South Wales.

New Zealand has two universities in the electrical engineering ranking, with the University of Auckland in the top 100 and the University of Canterbury ranked 151-200.

Top electrical engineering schools in Latin America

Of the 15 Latin American entries in the ranking, eight can be found in Brazil, with Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp) the highest-ranked at 51-100, while two more Brazilian universities are in the top 150. Mexico has three entries in the electrical engineering ranking, while Chile has two. Of these, the highest-ranked is Mexico’s Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) at 101-150.

Elsewhere in Latin America, Argentina and Colombia each offer one top university for electrical engineering – the Universidad Nacional de Colombia is ranked 101-150 while Argentina’s Universidad de Buenos Aires is placed 251-300.

Top electrical engineering schools in the Middle East 

Nine more of the world’s top electrical engineering universities can be found in the Middle East. Four of these are in Turkey, with Middle East Technical University the highest ranked at 101-150. Saudi Arabia has three entries in the electrical engineering ranking, including King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals in the 151-200 range.

Last but not least, Israel has two representatives in the ranking, with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology performing best at 101-150.

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