Computer, electrical and civil engineering earn No. 1 honors, while mechanical and aerospace rank No. 2

Five Cal Poly engineering disciplines rank among the top two in the nation in the 2027 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings, placing the College of Engineering among the leaders across fields ranging from computing to aerospace.

Computer engineering and electrical engineering earned No. 1 rankings, while civil engineering tied for No. 1. Mechanical and aerospace engineering each ranked No. 2.

The results come as Cal Poly was again named the Best in the West among public and private master’s-level universities, marking the fourth consecutive year the university has held the top overall regional spot. Cal Poly also ranked No. 1 among public regional universities in the West for the 34th year.

“These rankings reflect the strength of our programs, but they also reflect what makes a Cal Poly engineering education distinctive,” said Lynnette Zelezny, interim dean of the College of Engineering. “Our students are expected to apply what they learn from the beginning, taking ideas from the classroom into labs, projects and experiences where they have to make engineering decisions themselves.”

Computer engineering, which retained its No. 1 ranking, brings together hardware and software through a curriculum rooted in design. Cal Poly’s Electrical Engineering Department also earned the top spot in U.S. News’ electrical/electronic/communications engineering category.

The two programs share another connection through the Noyce School of Applied Computing, which combines the Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Software Engineering, and Computer Engineering departments, with Statistics as an affiliate.

The school is also helping expand Cal Poly’s capacity in artificial intelligence. During Cal Poly AI Day on Oct. 22, students and faculty will showcase AI research and teaching while the university marks a milestone for its new AI Factory, a high-performance computing system that will allow students and faculty to develop and train advanced AI models on campus.

Civil engineering, tied for No. 1, earned another national distinction this year when Cal Poly’s Society of Civil Engineers received the Robert Ridgway Student Chapter Award, honoring the top student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The chapter also won the Pacific Southwest Symposium for the fourth consecutive year.

Other programs are creating opportunities that reflect where their fields are headed. With the space economy growing around nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base, the No. 2-ranked Aerospace Engineering Department launched a new entrepreneurship workshop this fall that connects students and faculty with industry needs and explores how technical ideas can move toward commercial applications.

Students in mechanical engineering, also ranked No. 2, recently put that problem-solving approach to the test on a national stage. A senior project team won first place overall in NASA’s 2026 Human Lander Challenge with a cold-water system designed to support astronauts on future lunar and Mars missions. Three Cal Poly mechanical engineering teams were among the competition’s 12 finalists.

Zelezny said the breadth of the rankings is especially meaningful because the programs may lead students in different directions, but they share the same foundation.

“Engineering is changing rapidly, and our programs are evolving with it while staying grounded in the kind of learning Cal Poly has long been known for,” Zelezny said. “Students leave here with the technical foundation to contribute, but also with experience figuring out how to move an idea forward.”

U.S. News evaluated more than 1,700 colleges and universities for its 2027 Best Colleges rankings, using measures that include student outcomes, peer assessment and faculty resources. The engineering specialty rankings offer another view of Cal Poly’s standing, recognizing programs that continue to evolve while holding closely to the university’s Learn by Doing philosophy.

For more information about the College of Engineering and its programs, visit ceng.calpoly.edu.

Top image: Members of Cal Poly Racing’s Formula team pose with their car during a 2025 test session at Santa Maria Public Airport. The student-led team draws engineers from multiple disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace and electrical engineering.