Best Electrical Engineering Degree Programs in North Dakota in 2026
North Dakota’s reviewed electrical engineering degrees share a 126-credit total but differ in delivery, design structure and tuition rules. The University of North Dakota documents a fully online BSEE with remote laboratory kits as well as a Grand Forks campus route. North Dakota State’s Fargo curriculum divides its capstone across three courses and separates advanced electrical electives from a broader technical block.
Our 2026 ranking examines the standard electrical degree at each institution. UND’s aerospace and computer-science focus plans have their own requirements. NDSU’s online availability also needs its own attendance and cost planning; the review below evaluates its Fargo campus route.
Electrical Engineering bachelor’s rankings by state+
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Inside this ranking
How we ranked electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in North Dakota
This selected ranking reviews the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University. It includes the standard UND campus/online BSEE and NDSU’s campus BSEE, each supported by degree, curriculum, admission and current tuition evidence. State inclusion identifies the institutions’ locations, not an online residency restriction.
UND leads this reviewed set for the combination of a broad electrical curriculum, design courses across several years and explicit remote-laboratory access. NDSU follows for its required energy conversion and embedded systems, three-course capstone and defined technical elective choices. Students prioritizing a Fargo campus experience may reasonably prefer NDSU.
After selecting 2026/2027 on the EE cost page, North Dakota resident campus tuition is $480.74 per credit plus $79.59 in fees; the campus tuition and fee calculation is capped at 12 credits per semester. Online EE tuition is $623.99 per credit for all residencies plus $79.59 in student fees; only online fees are capped at 12 credits. Campus nonresident categories have separate rates. Living, books and applicable additional charges are separate.
North Dakota makes the practical requirements of its online electrical degree unusually clear: electrical laboratories use remote kits, and the university explicitly states that EE students do not need campus visits. The standard 126-credit BSEE is also available in Grand Forks. Its course plan includes circuits, electronics, embedded systems, electric drives, signals, controls and electromagnetics, with design courses beginning in the sophomore year and continuing through a two-course senior project. This review uses that standard plan; the department separately publishes aerospace and computer-science focus plans with different requirements. Delivery choice and the intended curriculum should be settled together.
Where it stands out
UND deserves close consideration if you need to study electrical engineering while remaining where you live and can organize regular independent laboratory work. Campus applicants can evaluate the same broad electrical subjects through the Grand Forks setting and ask how sophomore, junior and senior design projects develop over time.
What to weigh
Online flexibility does not eliminate prerequisites, laboratory assignments or team design work. It also changes the cost calculation: campus tuition is capped after 12 credits per semester, while online tuition continues per credit and only student fees are capped. The program page’s default tuition year must be changed to 2026–27 for a current comparison.
Attendance:The standard 126-credit BSEE is available in Grand Forks or online. UND explicitly states that EE laboratories use remote kits and require no campus visits; online courses are asynchronous. Aerospace and computer-science focus plans have separate requirements.
The standard EE plan requires circuits and electronics with laboratories, embedded systems, electric drives, electromagnetic fields/waves, signals and controls.
Sophomore Design and Junior Design precede Senior Design I and II.
Fifteen technical elective credits include at least nine from the school at the specified upper level, with approved engineering, mathematics or physics choices for the remainder.
Admission & progression
UND recommends a high-school GPA of at least 2.75 and requires 14 units of the specified high-school core preparation; ACT/SAT scores are optional.
Transfer credit and prerequisite preparation determine the individual starting sequence. The standard EE plan and the separately published aerospace or computer-science focus plans should be evaluated independently.
Design & practical experience
Design projects appear in the sophomore and junior years before the two-course senior project.
The EE online route uses remote laboratory kits. Online students can complete chemistry and physics labs through UND or seek prior approval for equivalent local courses.
The program describes industry-partner senior projects; the actual assignment depends on the available project and team.
$5,754.50 resident engineering tuition per semester
Cost basis & conditions +
For fall 2026 and spring 2027, campus undergraduate Engineering tuition at 13 or more credits is $5,754.50 for North Dakota residents or $8,632 for the standard U.S. nonresident/WUE/MSEP category. Minnesota reciprocity and contiguous-state/alumni categories have separate rates. Mandatory fall/spring fees total $860.40 at the 12-credit fee cap. Engineering differential tuition replaces the base tuition and applies to engineering and pre-engineering students; course fees and living expenses are additional.
North Dakota State’s electrical degree includes energy conversion and embedded systems alongside circuits, electronics, electromagnetics and signals. Its capstone is divided into three required courses, Design I through III. The catalog also separates nine advanced ECE elective credits from twelve broader technical credits, allowing a planned combination of electrical depth and related science, mathematics or engineering. The complete BSEE requires 126 credits; the 105-credit figure in the major-requirements table is only a subtotal. This review evaluates the Fargo campus route, with its engineering tuition category and its own progression requirements for upper-level ECE courses.
Where it stands out
NDSU is a strong option to investigate if you want required power-related and embedded-systems coursework while preserving substantial technical choices. The three-course capstone and optional co-op are practical topics for an advising conversation about project preparation and the timing of work experience.
What to weigh
Most upper-level ECE courses depend on minimum grades in the specified mathematics, computing and digital-design foundation. The nine ECE elective credits and twelve technical elective credits follow different rules. Engineering differential tuition applies from the pre-engineering stage, and the campus tuition cap differs from the separately priced online route.
Attendance:This review evaluates the Fargo campus route and its campus tuition. NDSU also lists online availability; applicants seeking that route should establish its specific laboratory arrangements and uncapped online pricing.
The 126-credit degree requires circuits, electronics, energy conversion, random processes, signals, electromagnetics and embedded systems. The catalog’s 105-credit subtotal covers major requirements, not the whole degree.
The elective plan separates nine upper-level ECE credits from 12 broader technical elective credits, with rules for field experience and independent study.
Technical choices can connect electrical study with renewable energy, photonics, computing, mathematics or approved engineering and science courses.
Admission & progression
Applicants use the appropriate first-year or transfer application, followed by an evaluation of prior coursework for the selected degree.
The specified computing, digital-design and mathematics courses require C or better before most 300-level ECE study; the catalog identifies an exception for ECE 311.
The EE core requires a 2.0 GPA. Transfer students must meet university residence requirements, including the specified upper-level and major credits at NDSU.
Design & practical experience
Design I, Design II and Design III form a required six-credit capstone sequence.
The program describes optional paid cooperative education, and the curriculum permits a limited amount of approved field-experience credit.
What matters in electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in North Dakota
Verified delivery
A complete online laboratory arrangement is evaluated separately from a general online program listing.
Design preparation
UND’s earlier design courses and NDSU’s three-course capstone provide different structures to investigate.
Comparable cost scope
Campus tuition caps, online per-credit charges, engineering differentials and student fees require separate calculations.
UND’s online electrical degree includes remote laboratory work
UND’s laboratory requirements page explicitly says electrical engineering students use remote kits and do not need campus visits. Its broader college page also describes campus laboratories for other majors, so those requirements should not be transferred to EE. Chemistry and physics laboratories can be completed through UND online or through a preapproved equivalent local course.
The standard electrical course plan includes sophomore and junior design before Senior Design I and II. It also requires electric drives, embedded systems, circuits, electronics, signals, controls and electromagnetics. Remote attendance changes where that work happens; it does not remove the laboratory assignments, prerequisite sequence or responsibility to contribute to a team project.
Read NDSU’s complete degree and elective rules
NDSU’s electrical catalog distinguishes the complete 126-credit BSEE from a 105-credit major-requirements subtotal. Its core includes energy conversion, embedded systems, random processes and applied electromagnetics. The capstone is Design I, II and III, totaling six credits. Those details are more informative than comparing the two universities only by their equal degree-credit total.
NDSU separates nine advanced ECE elective credits from twelve broader technical credits. Approved choices extend into computing, mathematics, photonics, renewable energy and other engineering or science subjects. The program also describes optional co-op experience. Students considering work experience should ask how it fits the degree sequence and which limited field-experience credits can count toward graduation.
Compare North Dakota electrical tuition using the same enrollment load
UND’s EE cost page defaults to the preceding year; the reviewed snapshot selects 2026–27. Its campus resident tuition and student-fee calculation is capped at twelve credits per semester. Online tuition continues per credit, with only student fees capped. That distinction can change the comparison for a student taking a full course load, even though online tuition is the same across residencies.
NDSU’s current Engineering table uses a campus tuition cap at thirteen or more credits and a twelve-credit student-fee cap. Engineering differential tuition applies from the pre-engineering stage and replaces the base tuition category. Compare the actual residency category, number of credits, fees and living arrangement using our engineering cost guide, then apply each institution’s individual aid offer.
Questions, answered
What else should you know?
Can I complete UND electrical engineering without campus visits?+
UND explicitly states that its EE laboratories use remote kits and require no campus visits. Online courses are asynchronous. General chemistry and physics laboratories can be completed online through UND or through a preapproved local equivalent.
Do both reviewed North Dakota degrees require 126 credits?+
Yes, the reviewed standard UND BSEE and NDSU BSEE list 126 credits. UND’s separate focus plans differ, and NDSU’s 105-credit major subtotal should not be confused with the full degree.
What distinguishes NDSU’s capstone?+
NDSU requires Design I, Design II and Design III, totaling six credits. Students can use the course descriptions and recent project examples to evaluate how preparation and project work are divided across that sequence.
Is online tuition capped like campus tuition?+
At UND, online tuition continues per credit while student fees are capped at twelve credits. Its campus calculation has a tuition cap. NDSU also separates campus capped tuition from online pricing, so a campus illustration should not be reused for an online budget.
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