What Popular Minnesota Colleges Offer Engineering Courses?

Career Information for Minnesota Engineers

Licensing and Education

To offer your engineering services to the public in Minnesota, you'll first need to earn state licensure. Generally, this requires earning a degree from an ABET-accredited program, passing the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, gaining professional engineering experience and passing the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam to become a Professional Engineer (PE). The Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Land Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design outlines additional options for obtaining your license to work as an engineer.

Salaries and Job Prospects

Your salary potential and job outlook differ depending on the engineering discipline you choose. For example, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in 2011 that civil engineers in Minnesota earned an average salary of about $76,000. In the same year, electrical engineers in the state earned around $85,000 and mechanical engineers averaged about $78,000.

The BLS projected that civil engineers across the country would see a 19% increase in employment between 2010 and 2020. Over the same period, electrical engineers are predicted to see a seven percent increase and mechanical engineers should see a nine percent employment growth, according to the BLS.

Schools with Engineering Bachelor's Degree Programs in Minnesota

Minnesota State University - Mankato

• Program Name: Bachelor of Science
• Disciplines: Civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering
• Program Length: Four years, full-time
• Tuition: $3,334 per semester for residents, $7,073 per semester for non-residents (full-time tuition as of 2012-2013)
• School Type: 4-year, public; approximately 14,000 undergraduate students and 2,000 graduate students
• Address: College of Science, Engineering and Technology, 131 Trafton Science Center North, Mankato, MN 56001
• Phone: 507-389-5998

Engineering students at the university's College of Science, Engineering and Technology study a series of foundation and core courses in their first two years and apply for admission into a discipline program in their sophomore year. Civil engineering students can study subjects such as structural analysis, environmental engineering and transportation engineering.

If you want to study electrical engineering, you choose from courses in communications systems engineering and integrated circuit engineering. Courses offered for mechanical engineering include studies in fluid mechanics, structural analysis and mechanical system design, while computer engineering courses include topics related to the operation and design of computer systems.

St. Cloud State University

• Program Name: Bachelor of Science
• Disciplines: Computer engineering, electrical engineering, manufacturing engineering, mechanical engineering
• Program Length: Four years, full-time
• Tuition: $2,783 per semester for MN residents, $6,159 per semester for non-residents (tuition as of Fall 2009)
• School Type: 4-year, public; about 16,000 undergraduate students and 1,500 graduate students
• Address: College of Science and Engineering, 720 Fourth Avenue South, St. Cloud, MN 56301
• Phone: 320-308-2192

This school is located about an hour from Minneapolis and offers engineering programs in four different disciplines. You may need to complete a series of department-designated courses before you begin your bachelor's program. The computer engineering program focuses on coursework in digital circuitry and systems, computer architecture and design of both hardware and software. As an electrical engineering student, you study computer-related courses along with communications systems, electromagnetics and control systems.

Students of mechanical engineering take courses in robotics, optics and lasers, material science and machine design. In the manufacturing engineering program, you'll also study robotics along with automation, production management and lean manufacturing. You can also choose to combine these disciplines into a dual major.

University of Minnesota - Duluth

• Program Name: Bachelor of Science
• Disciplines: Chemical engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering
• Program Length: Four years, full-time
• Tuition: $5,860 per semester for residents, $7,193 per semester for non-residents (13-credit band, as of Fall 2012)
• School Type: 4-year, public; approximately 11,000 undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students
• Address: Swenson College of Science and Engineering, 140 Engineering Building, 1303 Ordean Court, Duluth, MN 55812
• Phone: 218-726-7585

The university's Swenson College of Science and Engineering offers a variety of undergraduate engineering programs. As a chemical engineering student, you can take courses such as transport phenomena, thermodynamics and reaction engineering. Along with the traditional courses, in civil engineering you can take electives such as sustainable design and construction, water resources engineering and rock mechanics. Electrical engineering students can choose from studies in robotics, VLSI design and artificial neural networks.

The industrial engineering department offers an international design option that can give you the opportunity to spend your senior year studying at a university in Sweden. Core classes in the industrial design program include studies in human factors and ergonomic design, occupational systems and facility design. Mechanical engineering students can opt for electives that include robotics and controls, particle technology and computational fluid dynamics.

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Program Name: Bachelor's degree; title varies by program
• Disciplines: Aerospace engineering and mechanics, biomedical engineering, bioproducts and biosystems engineering, chemical engineering; civil engineering, computer engineering, electrical engineering, geoengineering, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering
• Program Length: Four years, full-time
• Tuition: $6,030 per semester for MN residents, $8,655 per semester for non-residents (13-credit flat rate as of 2012-2013)
• School Type: 4-year public; about 35,000 undergraduate students and 18,000 graduate students
• Address: College of Science and Engineering, 117 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
• Phone: 612-624-2006

This university is located in the large city of Minneapolis and offers a variety of undergraduate program options in engineering, including the Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, Bachelor of Biomedical Engineering and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. As a freshman, you can participate in this school's First Year Experience, which includes activities such as creating study groups, attending career fairs to talk with professional engineers, meeting with faculty members to discuss your options in engineering or simply attending a school event with your peers. Most of your courses in the first two years focus on engineering foundation studies that apply to most disciplines.

By your junior year, the majority of your engineering courses are focused on your chosen discipline. For example, aerospace engineering majors take classes in aerodynamics, flight dynamics and orbital mechanics. In chemical engineering, you'll study topics like biomolecular engineering, reaction kinetics and process control. Civil engineering classes take you in the direction of hydrologic design, soil mechanics and linear structure analysis.

Schools with Engineering Master's Degree Programs in Minnesota

University of Minnesota - Duluth

• Program Name: Master's degree; title varies by program
• Disciplines: Civil engineering, electrical and computer engineering, engineering management
• Program Length: Seven years (maximum)
• Tuition: $7,285 for full-time residents, $11,160 for full-time non-residents (tuition as of 2012-2013)
• Prerequisites: Bachelor's degree (field of study varies by discipline)
• Admission Requirements: Resume, personal statement, GRE scores, letters of recommendation
• School Type: 4-year, public; approximately 11,000 undergraduate students and 1,000 graduate students
• Address: Swenson College of Science and Engineering, 140 Engineering Building, 1303 Ordean Court, Duluth, MN 55812
• Phone: 218-726-7585

You can pursue graduate-level studies in engineering if you come from another discipline; however, you may need to complete prerequisite courses. Students in the civil engineering program have access to classes in highway planning, geotechnical design and traffic systems. Master's students in electrical and computer engineering can study subjects such as embedded systems, digital image processing and digital communications. Engineering management students can take classes in advanced project management, innovation technology and technical forecasting.

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Program Name: Master of Engineering or Master of Science
• Disciplines: Aerospace engineering, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering; civil engineering, electrical engineering, geological engineering, industrial and systems engineering, infrastructure engineering, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering
• Program Length: Two to seven years (maximum)
• Tuition: $7,285 for full-time residents, $11,160 for full-time non-residents (tuition as of 2012-2013)
• Prerequisites: Bachelor's degree (field of study varies by discipline)
• Admission Requirements: Resume, personal statement, GRE scores, letters of recommendation
• School Type: 4-year public; about 35,000 undergraduate students and 18,000 graduate students
• Address: College of Science and Engineering, 117 Pleasant Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
• Phone: 612-624-2006

You can pursue a Master of Engineering or Master of Science through the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering. Graduate course offerings include studies in linear systems and optimal control, smart materials and structures and engineering economics. The university also offers dual degree programs and doctoral studies in engineering. If you would like to study in another country, you may be interested in the Peace Corps Master's International program, which combines one year of study with 27 months of service in the Peace Corps.