Best Electrical Engineering Degree Programs in Texas in 2026
Texas applicants have several ways to combine electrical hardware, power, signals and computing in a bachelor’s degree. Our best electrical engineering degree programs in Texas ranking reviews UT Austin, Texas A&M at College Station and UT Dallas. The exact qualifications differ: UT Austin awards a combined electrical and computer engineering degree, while Texas A&M and UT Dallas award named electrical engineering degrees.
The selection is especially useful for comparing how specialization begins. UT Austin uses technical components after a common foundation. Texas A&M places a broad electrical core after its engineering first year and Entry to a Major process. UT Dallas gives students a choice of advanced laboratories within its electrical curriculum. Each review explains what is required and what students choose.
Electrical Engineering bachelor’s rankings by state+
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How we ranked electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in Texas
This Texas ranking covers three researched bachelor’s programs at the specified institutions and campuses. Their graduate offerings, computer-only degrees and other Texas institutions are outside this reviewed set. Official curriculum, major-entry and cost sources support each profile.
UT Austin leads for its defined electrical technical components and two-semester industry-problem capstone. Texas A&M follows for its broad required EE core, including energy conversion and machine learning, plus senior design and a high-impact experience. UT Dallas adds a clear progression through foundational and advanced electrical laboratories.
2026–27 traditional undergraduate Engineering flat-rate tuition at 12 or more credits per semester. The nonresident Engineering rate is $24,197. This is the traditional plan; optional Longhorn Fixed Tuition uses a separate schedule. Housing, meals, books and other personal costs are additional; lower credit loads have different rates.
UT Austin's electrical and computer engineering degree provides a common foundation before students choose a technical component near the end of their sophomore year. Electrical choices include integrated circuits, renewable energy, electromagnetics and nanoelectronics, while other components extend into computer architecture and data science. A required two-semester capstone asks teams to work through industry-submitted problems from requirements and competing designs to costs and implementation. This is a useful combination for students who want substantial electrical subject study within a combined ECE qualification, with a defined opportunity to develop an advanced focus.
Where it stands out
UT Austin is particularly worth investigating when you can connect a technical component with the kind of system you want to design. Energy conversion, wireless hardware and semiconductor devices each have a published route, while the capstone makes project requirements and practical constraints part of the undergraduate experience.
What to weigh
Incoming 2026 students face revised introductory-course and physics requirements, so older flowcharts or assumed AP equivalencies can produce a misleading plan. Use the entry-year rules and a transfer evaluation. The tuition comparison also needs the Engineering college rate, residency and the selected traditional or fixed tuition plan.
A common two-year electrical/computer foundation precedes the choice of a technical component.
Electrical components include communications/signals/networks, integrated circuits, energy and renewables, electromagnetic systems, and nanoelectronics.
The 2026–28 plan includes 11 hours of approved free electives, with advanced mathematics or science included in that requirement.
Areas of focus
Communication, Signal Processing, Networks and Systems
Electronics and Integrated Circuits
Energy Systems and Renewable Energy
Fields, Waves and Electromagnetic Systems
Nanoelectronics and Nanotechnology
Computer Architecture and Embedded Systems
Data Science and Information Processing
Software Engineering and Design
Admission & progression
Applicants apply through the university and meet Cockrell School engineering requirements, including documented calculus readiness.
New ECE entrants follow the 2026–28 catalog, which replaces the earlier engineering physics II/lab pair with Electromagnetic/Quantum/Semiconductor Physics.
For incoming first-year ECE students, the department does not accept AP/IB/exam or transferred equivalents for the former physics pair toward that requirement; internal/external transfers may request permission for prior coursework.
Design & practical experience
The required two-semester capstone has small groups work on open-ended problems submitted by industrial collaborators.
Teams define requirements, examine prior work, compare designs, analyze costs and implement a solution.
Approved co-op or internship coursework can substitute for the additional advanced technical elective under the department’s rules.
Per-semester estimate by residency, load and rate plan
Cost basis & conditions +
Use the official tuition calculator for an undergraduate Engineering student at College Station, selecting residency, semester, credit load and the applicable tuition plan. Its tuition-and-required-fee estimate is separate from living expenses. Course-related laboratory, equipment and educational-enhancement charges, distance differentials and certain deposits are excluded from the displayed estimate.
Texas A&M's electrical engineering degree retains a broad required foundation while including machine learning directly in the major plan. Circuits, signals, electronics, electromagnetic fields, energy conversion, computer architecture and electronic materials all precede advanced ECEN selections. Electrical Design Laboratory I and II provide the senior project sequence, and an approved high-impact experience is required for graduation. The 128-credit degree therefore offers several ways to connect electrical theory with practice. Its common engineering first year is also a significant part of the route: students progress into the specialty through Entry to a Major.
Where it stands out
Texas A&M fits students who want required study across electrical power, electronics and computing before specializing. The machine-learning course is a concrete addition to that breadth. Investigate both the advanced ECEN choices and the approved high-impact experiences to see how the degree can support your intended direction.
What to weigh
Admission to the university or the initial engineering program does not itself complete entry into electrical engineering. Placement and prerequisite order can also alter the sample schedule. Tuition estimates require the correct residency, campus, enrollment and rate-plan selections, with course-related laboratory or equipment charges considered separately.
The major requires circuit theory, signals and systems, electronics, electric/magnetic fields and electric energy conversion.
Machine Learning for Electrical Engineering, computer architecture and electronic properties of materials are part of the required plan.
Advanced ECEN electives and a separate technical elective build on the common electrical foundation.
Areas of focus
Specialization areas include analog/mixed-signal electronics; biomedical imaging and sensing; computer systems; devices and nanotechnology; energy and power; electromagnetics; information systems
Admission & progression
Students begin with the shared engineering first-year curriculum and use the Entry to a Major process to enter a specialty.
Before starting coursework in the electrical major, students must be admitted to it or obtain departmental approval.
Mathematics placement determines the appropriate initial mathematics course and can change the sample sequence.
Design & practical experience
Electrical Design Laboratory I and II form the senior design sequence.
All students must complete an approved high-impact experience to graduate; options are coordinated through ECEN advising.
The core includes laboratory work in digital systems, electronics and the engineering physics sequence.
2026–27 variable-plan undergraduate fall/spring rate at 12–15 credits; the nonresident base is $20,082. Jonsson School undergraduate ECS courses add $70 per credit hour in supplemental designated tuition. Course-related and other charges are additional. New students default to the variable plan; the optional guaranteed plan locks its higher starting rate for four consecutive years.
UT Dallas places a staged laboratory sequence inside its 128-credit electrical engineering degree. Students complete two fundamentals laboratories, then choose advanced laboratory work in computing, circuits, signals, devices, or power electronics and energy. The required core also includes embedded systems, controls, digital circuits and electromagnetics. Senior Design Project I and II give the final project a two-course structure, while guided electives allow additional EE study or approved research. These requirements make the program a useful choice for applicants who want to compare laboratory options explicitly before deciding how to shape their advanced electrical coursework.
Where it stands out
UT Dallas deserves attention when you want a named electrical engineering degree with computing and embedded systems inside the core. The advanced-laboratory choice can help align that broad foundation with an interest in circuits, device work, signals or power, rather than leaving all practical specialization to extracurricular activity.
What to weigh
Prerequisite grades govern access to major courses, so transfer equivalencies and earlier performance matter for progression. Tuition also has two distinct plans. The current variable rate is a base charge; Jonsson School undergraduate courses carry supplemental designated tuition, and the guaranteed plan has a different initial price and duration.
The core includes electrical networks, electronic devices and circuits, digital circuits, electromagnetics, systems and controls, and embedded systems.
Two fundamentals laboratories lead into a selected advanced laboratory in computing, circuits, signals, devices, or power electronics and energy.
The general program has 12 credits of major guided electives; approved research or independent study can count within catalog limits.
Admission & progression
First-year applications receive university review using academic preparation and the published admission criteria.
The EE catalog recommends substantial high school mathematics through trigonometry, along with chemistry and physics, to prepare for calculus-based work.
Major-required courses and their prerequisites ordinarily require C or better; a higher course-specific prerequisite takes precedence.
Design & practical experience
Senior Design Project I and II are required in the EE core.
Design problems appear in lecture and laboratory courses before the senior project.
Cooperative education with area industry supplements the curriculum; independent research can also fit within guided-elective limits.
What matters in electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in Texas
Electrical specialization
We compare the actual advanced electrical options within EE and combined ECE degrees.
Required applied study
Senior design, laboratories and other required experiences must be supported by degree-specific sources.
Entry-year accuracy
Major-entry processes, revised course requirements and the applicable tuition plan are evaluated for the applicant’s route.
Electrical engineering degree programs in Texas: choose a technical direction
UT Austin’s technical components include energy systems and renewable energy, electronics and integrated circuits, electromagnetic systems, and nanoelectronics. Its combined ECE degree also has computing-focused components. Students choose a direction near the end of the sophomore year, after the common foundation. The two-semester capstone then asks groups to address industry-submitted problems, compare competing designs and carry a chosen solution through implementation.
Texas A&M’s electrical curriculum requires energy conversion, electronics, fields, signals, computer architecture and machine learning before advanced ECEN selections. Electrical Design Laboratory I and II and a required high-impact experience add practical structure. At UT Dallas, two fundamentals laboratories lead to an advanced laboratory choice in circuits, devices, signals, computing or power electronics and energy. That laboratory decision gives applicants a concrete way to compare specialization within a named EE degree.
Major entry and the 2026 curriculum changes matter
Texas A&M begins with a shared engineering first year and uses Entry to a Major for placement into a specialty. The electrical catalog requires admission to the major or departmental approval before major coursework begins. An applicant should understand the entry process and mathematics placement before assuming the sample four-year sequence will match the individual route.
UT Austin’s ECE admissions guidance describes changes for new 2026 entrants, including revised introductory courses and a new electromagnetic/quantum/semiconductor physics course. The treatment of AP, exam and transferred credit for the former physics pair also changes. These rules are specific enough that an older flowchart can produce an incorrect plan. UT Dallas, meanwhile, requires the appropriate grades in major courses and their prerequisites. Transfers should resolve those equivalencies before estimating the remaining semesters.
Compare the Engineering rate and its extra charges
UT Austin’s traditional Engineering tuition at 12 or more credits is $6,484 per semester for Texas residents and $24,197 for nonresidents in 2026–27. Its optional fixed plan has a separate schedule. Texas A&M’s calculator requires selections for campus, residency, enrollment and the applicable plan; it also excludes certain course-related laboratory and equipment costs from its displayed estimate.
UT Dallas’s variable tuition schedule lists a base rate, with supplemental designated tuition for Jonsson School undergraduate courses. Its guaranteed plan starts at a different rate and locks that rate for four consecutive years. A useful comparison keeps these plans separate and adds housing, food and other expenses under consistent assumptions. Consult our engineering degree cost guide when turning the published charges into a multi-year budget.
Questions, answered
What else should you know?
Which Texas degree includes electrical and computer engineering in its title?+
UT Austin’s current bachelor’s qualification is Electrical and Computer Engineering. It offers electrical technical components in areas such as energy, circuits, electromagnetics and nanoelectronics, alongside components that focus more heavily on computing.
Is machine learning optional in Texas A&M’s electrical curriculum?+
The reviewed catalog lists Machine Learning for Electrical Engineering in the required plan. Students also complete established electrical subjects including circuits, signals, electronics, energy conversion and electromagnetic fields before selecting further advanced coursework.
What laboratory choice does UT Dallas offer EE students?+
After two fundamentals laboratories, students choose an advanced laboratory in computing systems, circuits, signals and systems, devices, or power electronics and energy systems. The choice sits within the degree requirements alongside the senior design sequence.
Why should Texas applicants check the tuition plan as well as residency?+
Traditional, variable and guaranteed or fixed plans can have different starting rates and periods of stability. College-specific charges and course supplements also matter. Compare the plan that would actually apply to you, with the same credit load and living assumptions.
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.
