Best Electrical Engineering Degree Programs in Kansas in 2026
Choosing between electrical engineering degree programs in Kansas begins with a curricular question: do you want a required emphasis or a broad prescribed foundation followed by senior electives? Kansas State requires an emphasis in bioengineering, electronics and communications, or power systems. Kansas places controls, communications, embedded systems and two electromagnetics courses in its common electrical plan.
Our 2026 ranking reviews the electrical bachelor’s degrees in Manhattan and Lawrence. Admission pathways, restrictions on transferred electrical courses and upper-level progression are central to this comparison. Students with community-college credit should examine those rules before estimating how much time remains in either degree.
Electrical Engineering bachelor’s rankings by state+
Jump to a program +
Inside this ranking
How we ranked electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in Kansas
The selection contains two individually researched Kansas institutions offering electrical engineering bachelor’s degrees. These are campus undergraduate reviews. Each university also offers other engineering qualifications, but those awards do not expand the scope of this bachelor’s ranking.
Kansas State leads for its required emphasis structure, common energy-conversion and controls preparation, and two-course Senior Design Experience. Kansas follows for the breadth of its required electrical subjects and a six-credit senior design laboratory sequence. The editorial order reflects the published degree plans and their practical planning conditions.
For fall 2026, spring 2027 and summer 2027 campus programs, undergraduate tuition is $367.50 per Kansas-resident credit or $1,004.19 per nonresident credit. Engineering-originated courses add $105.60 per credit; other colleges assess their own course fees. Manhattan undergraduate Student Services fees are $42.69 per credit below 12 credits, capped at $512.28 for 12 or more. Specialized course charges and living expenses are additional.
Kansas State organizes its electrical BS around a required emphasis rather than an entirely open set of advanced electives. Students select bioengineering, electronics and communications, or power systems, using twelve restricted elective credits to complete that area. The 123-credit Manhattan program retains a substantial common core in microcontrollers, digital systems, electronics, controls, electromagnetic theory and energy conversion. A required electronics laboratory and the five-credit Senior Design Experience sequence provide practical components. Applicants should pair that specialty structure with the department’s precise prerequisite and transfer rules, which can materially affect an incoming student’s remaining schedule.
Where it stands out
Kansas State is useful to investigate if you already want an organized path toward biomedical hardware, communication electronics or power systems. First-year applicants can also evaluate the college’s GPA-based entry route, which does not require standardized test scores and includes individual review below its direct-admission threshold.
What to weigh
Every electrical student must complete an emphasis, and restricted electives must fit that choice. The department limits transferred ECE-prefix credits to twelve and specifies eligible equivalent courses and conditions. Students bringing substantial prior electrical coursework should obtain a detailed evaluation before assuming it will shorten the degree.
The 123-credit degree requires one emphasis area: bioengineering, electronics and communications, or power systems.
The core includes microcontrollers, digital systems, two electronics courses, linear systems, control systems design, scientific computing, electromagnetic theory and energy conversion.
Twelve restricted elective credits complete the selected emphasis under the department’s approved lists.
Areas of focus
Bioengineering
Electronics and communications
Power systems
Admission & progression
Direct first-year engineering admission uses a 3.0 high-school GPA; standardized test scores are not required, and the college states that its degree programs have no admission cap. Applicants below the GPA receive individual review.
Direct transfer admission uses a 2.75 cumulative GPA; internal transfers require 12 K-State credits, a 2.5 K-State GPA and C or better in the first calculus course.
The ECE curriculum enforces C grades in prerequisites and limits transferred ECE-prefix credit to 12 hours, with listed course-equivalency, prerequisite and accredited-program conditions.
Design & practical experience
Senior Design Experience I and II provide a required five-credit project sequence.
An electronics laboratory is required alongside the core electronics courses.
The department describes student access to a makerspace and optional robotics competition activity.
For 2026–27, Lawrence undergraduate base tuition is $394.80 per Kansas-resident credit or $1,059.30 per nonresident credit. Engineering-originated courses add $95 per credit; courses in other colleges have their own listed fees. At 12 or more fall/spring credits, the required student fee is $287.10 per semester, with a $245.40 wellness fee at three or more credits. Other course charges, living costs and books are separate.
Kansas requires a wide electrical foundation before students use nine senior elective credits for advanced choices. The 128-credit BS includes embedded systems, digital design, controls, communication systems, two electromagnetics courses and electronic materials, alongside circuits and electronics. Senior Design Laboratory I and II provide the culminating six-credit sequence. The catalog also makes academic progression unusually explicit: students need Upper Level Eligibility in fourteen designated foundation courses before most later EECS enrollment. A student comparing KU should therefore examine the complete prerequisite and design sequence alongside the particular advanced courses they want to take.
Where it stands out
Kansas merits attention if you want controls, communications, embedded systems and electromagnetics in the required electrical curriculum. The published first-year mathematics alternatives and transfer rules make it possible to evaluate an entry plan before choosing a Lawrence course schedule.
What to weigh
The four-year sequence assumes readiness for Calculus I; the catalog warns that starting below it extends completion. Upper Level Eligibility is another requirement beyond admission, and transfers must complete their last thirty credits at KU. Engineering course fees are additional to the university’s base tuition.
The 128-credit BS requires circuits, electronics, embedded systems, digital systems design, controls, communication systems, electromagnetic theory and electronic materials/devices.
Nine senior elective credits must follow the approved EECS course-level and exclusion rules.
Calculus I is the entry mathematics course in the four-year plan; the catalog says beginning below that level extends the degree beyond four years.
Admission & progression
First-year engineering applicants must be admissible to KU, have at least a 3.0 high-school GPA and demonstrate mathematics readiness through one of the listed test, course, AP/IB or placement routes.
Transfer applicants need at least a 2.5 transferable college GPA, C− or better in Calculus I and C or better in applicable mathematics, science and engineering courses; the last 30 credit hours must be completed at KU.
Upper Level Eligibility separately requires C− or better in 14 designated foundation courses, with specific concurrent-course exceptions and a petition process.
Design & practical experience
Senior Design Laboratory I and II form a required six-credit sequence, with the second course satisfying the university capstone requirement.
Required embedded systems and digital systems design courses accompany the circuits, electronics and electromagnetics sequence.
What matters in electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in Kansas
An advanced electrical direction
We examine which specialty courses form a required emphasis and which are optional senior choices.
Entry into later coursework
Admission alone does not resolve prerequisite grades, upper-level eligibility or the treatment of transferred electrical courses.
Course-based fees
Kansas public-university budgets need to price engineering courses separately from the base tuition rate.
Required emphasis or broad electrical foundation?
Kansas State’s current electrical requirements specify 123 credits and twelve restricted elective credits that complete one of the three emphasis areas. The shared core already includes microcontrollers, digital systems, control systems design, scientific computing, electromagnetic theory and energy conversion. Senior Design Experience I and II total five credits, and an electronics laboratory is required. The emphasis choice should guide an approved elective plan without being mistaken for permission to skip the shared electrical foundation.
Kansas’ 128-credit electrical plan requires communication systems, controls, embedded systems, digital systems design, electronic devices/materials and two electromagnetics courses. Nine senior elective credits come after those prescribed requirements. Senior Design Laboratory I and II total six credits. Students who are still deciding between communications, controls and hardware can compare this required exposure with the more explicitly organized emphasis choice at Kansas State.
Transfer planning at Manhattan and Lawrence
Kansas State’s electrical department limits transferred ECE-prefix credit to twelve hours and specifies eligible course equivalents, prerequisites and accredited-program conditions. That rule makes an early evaluation especially important for applicants who have already studied electrical engineering elsewhere. The college’s direct transfer threshold is a 2.75 cumulative GPA; internal K-State transfers have a different GPA, credit and calculus requirement. These admission rules do not replace the department’s course-transfer limits.
Kansas requires Upper Level Eligibility through fourteen designated foundation courses, generally with C− or better, before most later EECS enrollment. Certain courses can be taken while a student finishes that requirement, and a petition process exists. Its transfer admission rules include a 2.5 transferable college GPA and specified calculus and technical-course grades. The last thirty credits must be completed at KU. Compare the remaining semesters, including senior design, rather than simply subtracting accepted credits from 128.
Building a Kansas electrical engineering budget
Kansas State’s 2026–27 campus schedule lists base undergraduate tuition of $367.50 per resident credit or $1,004.19 per nonresident credit. Engineering-originated courses add $105.60 per credit, while courses from other colleges have different charges. Manhattan Student Services fees reach $512.28 at twelve or more credits. The number of engineering courses in a particular semester therefore matters to the bill.
Kansas’ current rate schedule lists $394.80 resident or $1,059.30 nonresident base tuition per credit, plus $95 per engineering course credit. Full-time student and wellness fees have their own semester rules. Compare both universities using the same residency, course load and living arrangement, then apply the actual aid offer. Neither base rate is a complete price for an electrical engineering degree.
Questions, answered
What else should you know?
Does Kansas State require an electrical emphasis?+
Yes. Electrical students complete bioengineering, electronics and communications, or power systems. Twelve restricted elective credits must satisfy the selected emphasis under the approved department lists.
Can engineering applicants enter Kansas State without ACT or SAT scores?+
The college does not require standardized test scores for admission. It publishes a 3.0 high-school GPA for direct first-year entry and individually reviews applicants below that threshold.
What is Upper Level Eligibility at Kansas?+
It is a separate electrical/computer science progression requirement covering fourteen designated foundation courses. Most later EECS courses require it, with specified concurrent-course exceptions and a petition process.
Does the four-year Kansas electrical plan begin below calculus?+
No. The catalog identifies Calculus I as the starting mathematics course and says beginning below that level extends the degree beyond four years. Applicants should use placement and prior-credit results to build their own schedule.
Keep researching
Choosing a electrical engineering degree
Learn what an electrical engineering degree covers, including circuits, signals, lab work and design, plus admissions, transfer and online study.
