The annual U.S. News Best Colleges edition for 2014 lists 29 public universities among the top 50 nationally in undergraduate engineering, and Rutgers, Iowa State, Ohio State, and UC Santa Barbara all gained at least four places in the rankings compared to 2013.  Rutgers led the way with an increase of seven places.

In general, there were fewer changes in the rankings of undergrad engineering programs than there were for undergrad business programs.  (See U.S. News Best Undergrad Business 2014:  Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Maryland Gain the Most.)

Below are the leading public programs in engineering, with the 2014 listed first, followed by the 2013 ranking.  The symbols +, =, and – precede the name of the university to indicate whether the 2014 ranking is higher, the same, or lower than the 2013 ranking.  Please note that a change as small as .1 on the 5.0 scale can lead to a change of two or more places.

=UC Berkeley–2014 (3); 2013 (3)

=Georgia Tech–2014 (5); 2013 (5)

=Illinois–2014 (5); 2013 (5)

=Michigan–2014 (7); 2013 (7)

=Purdue–2014 (10); 2013 (10)

=UT Austin–2014 (10); 2013 (10)

=Wisconsin–2014 (13); 2013 (13)

+Texas A&M–2014 (15); 2013 (16)

+Virginia Tech–2014 (15); 2013 (16)

-Penn State–2014 (19); 2013 (16)

+UCLA–2014 (19); 2013 (20)

=Maryland–2014 (23); 2013 (23)

=Minnesota–2014 (23); 2013 (23)

+Ohio State–2014 (26); 2013 (30)

-UC San Diego–2014 (26); 2013 (23)

-Washington–2014 (26); 2013 (23)

-NC State–2014 (32); 2013 (30)

-UC Davis–2014 (32); 2013 (30)

+Colorado–2014 (32); 2013 (34)

+Iowa State–2014 (35); 2013 (39)

+UC Santa Barbara–2014 (35); 2013 (39)

-Florida–2014 (35); 2013 (34)

-Virginia–2014 (35); 2013 (34)

+Arizona State–2014 (43); 2013 (44)

+Michigan State–2014 (43); 2013 (44)

+Rutgers–2014 (43); 2013 (50)

+Colo School of Mines-2014 (49); 2013 (53)

-UC Irvine–2014 (49); 2013 (44)

+Pitt–2014 (49); 2013 (50)

Arizona, Auburn, and Delaware were all ranked at number 53 in the 2014 report.