Best Electrical Engineering Degree Programs in Utah in 2026
Electrical engineering students in Utah can organize advanced study in notably different ways at the University of Utah and Utah State. Utah pairs breadth across electrical subareas with a required advanced depth course. Utah State provides a large EE elective block with choices reaching into electric vehicles, spacecraft systems and photonics. Our 2026 ranking reviews these two campus bachelor’s degrees and the requirements behind those choices.
Salt Lake City and Logan also have different tuition structures. Both universities add engineering course charges to their general schedules, while Utah changes its base undergraduate rate with class standing. A useful shortlist should connect the courses you want to take with the admission stage, semester schedule and bill that actually apply to you.
Electrical Engineering bachelor’s rankings by state+
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Inside this ranking
How we ranked electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in Utah
The selected ranking includes the University of Utah and Utah State University. It reviews their campus BS degrees in Electrical Engineering, using the specific source editions identified in the cards. It does not claim that these two schools exhaust Utah’s electrical engineering options or establish online attendance for either reviewed route.
Utah leads this reviewed pair for its combination of cross-area breadth, advanced depth and a substantial two-term senior project. Utah State follows for its extensive application-oriented electives and integrated design/communication sequence. This is an editorial ordering of the reviewed undergraduate plans; a Logan location or a particular elective laboratory may favor Utah State for an individual student.
$5,582.96 resident tuition and general fees at 15 credits
Cost basis & conditions +
For 2026–27, 15-credit lower-division undergraduate tuition and general fees total $5,582.96 for residents or $18,184.01 for nonresidents. The corresponding upper-division amounts are $5,642.19 and $18,403.01. Engineering courses numbered 1000–5999 add $71.21 per course credit regardless of student class level. New undergraduates also pay a $125 matriculation fee; other applicable course and living costs are separate.
Utah’s electrical engineering plan combines a compact circuits-and-signals core with substantial choice in advanced study. Students take breadth courses in different subareas, then develop greater depth through a 5000-level ECE course and other approved electives. This structure allows a student to connect device physics, robotics, power or digital systems without treating those interests as interchangeable. A junior seminar prepares students for the two-term group senior project. The detailed review uses the department’s published 2025–26 checklist, revised in February 2026, and distinguishes its current Senior Clinic terminology from older course labels on the overview.
Where it stands out
Utah merits consideration if you want to assemble an advanced electrical plan around two or more related interests, then apply that preparation to a group project across the senior year. Its breadth rules make a course-by-course advising conversation more useful than selecting a specialty name alone.
What to weigh
Students need to maintain both the department’s cumulative and technical GPA requirements, and the repeat policy counts withdrawals toward course attempts. Tuition also changes between lower- and upper-division standing, while engineering course differential tuition applies in addition to the university tuition-and-fee schedule.
Attendance:Course details use the department’s published 2025–26 checklist, revised February 2026. The university minimum is 120 credits; prior mathematics preparation and the selected electives determine the individual plan.
The published checklist requires introductory circuits, Circuits and Systems I/II with laboratories, and Signals and Systems with a laboratory.
Two breadth courses must cover different electrical subareas, including circuits/devices, electromagnetics/optics, power/control/robotics or digital/computer engineering.
Technical study includes a 5000-level depth course plus additional approved electrical electives; programming, probability and technical writing support the electrical core.
Admission & progression
Students progress from pre-major to full-major status; pre-major students generally cannot bypass a full-major prerequisite without undergraduate-advisor authorization.
The department requires a 2.5 cumulative University of Utah GPA and a 2.5 technical GPA, with no ECE grade below C−. Required courses ordinarily allow only two attempts, counting withdrawals.
Design & practical experience
Junior Seminar prepares students for the two-term group senior project.
The February 2026 checklist names Senior Clinic I and II as the culminating eight-credit project sequence, alongside the one-credit seminar.
$4,532.42 resident Logan tuition and fees per semester
Cost basis & conditions +
Fall 2026/Spring 2027 Logan undergraduate tuition and student fees at 12–18 credits are $4,532.42 for residents or $13,254.99 for nonresidents. Engineering differential tuition adds $2.09 per lower-division course credit and $50.32 per upper-division course credit. International nonresident rates and statewide/online routes use separate provisions. Living, supplies and applicable additional course costs are not included.
Utah State gives electrical engineering students a sizeable advanced elective block after required microelectronics, signals, microcontrollers and electromagnetics. The 24 elective credits include at least 20 in EE, with listed choices reaching into electric vehicles, power electronics, spacecraft systems, photonics and robotics. That range makes the Logan degree useful to examine through a proposed sequence of related courses and laboratories. Design and communication also receive several named requirements rather than being confined to a final presentation. The 120-credit credential has a defined foundation and pre-professional progression, which should be mapped before planning advanced electives.
Where it stands out
Utah State suits students who have a particular electrical application in mind and want several advanced courses to support it. Electric vehicle and photonics laboratory options are concrete examples to investigate, alongside the prerequisites and availability of the surrounding lecture courses.
What to weigh
The Engineering Foundations and pre-professional stages have grade and GPA conditions before professional study. An extensive elective list does not mean every combination fits one schedule. Upper-division engineering courses also carry a materially higher differential tuition rate than lower-division engineering courses, beyond the base semester charge.
Professional required study includes microelectronics, continuous/discrete signals, microcontroller hardware/software, electromagnetics and probability.
The 24-credit elective block requires at least 20 EE credits, with up to four approved credits from other subjects.
Listed advanced choices include power electronics, electric vehicles, spacecraft systems, photonics, controls, mechatronics, VLSI and robotics.
Admission & progression
The catalog requires at least C− grades and a 2.8 GPA in the specified Engineering Foundations courses.
Admission to the professional program also follows the pre-professional course requirements; the catalog specifies a 2.8 GPA calculation for that coursework and requires advising.
Upper-division engineering, mathematics and science courses used in the major must meet the professional program’s GPA and repeat rules.
Design & practical experience
Engineering Design and Communications I, Engineering Design II and Engineering Communications II form the required design/communication sequence with Creativity and Communication in Design.
Approved electives include Electric Vehicle Design Laboratory and Photonics Laboratory, allowing advanced hands-on work to support a chosen specialty.
What matters in electrical engineering bachelor’s programs in Utah
Structure of advanced study
We examine whether breadth, depth and elective rules support the student’s intended electrical application.
Preparation for design
Required laboratory, programming and communication work should build toward the actual culminating project.
Progression and tuition
Pre-professional status, required grades and engineering differential tuition belong in the same semester plan.
Build a Utah electrical engineering course plan around an application
Utah’s published electrical checklist requires breadth courses from different subareas, including circuits/devices, electromagnetics/optics, power/control/robotics and digital/computer engineering. A 5000-level depth course provides advanced study beyond that breadth. Its detailed requirements are the 2025–26 checklist revised in February 2026; students should establish the catalog governing their own enrollment.
Utah State’s BS requirements reserve 24 elective credits, including at least 20 in EE. The choices include power electronics for electric-drive vehicles, Electric Vehicle Design Laboratory, spacecraft systems, photonics, VLSI and robotics. Select a coherent group of courses, then ask about prerequisites and expected offerings. A list of possible subjects does not establish that all are available in one academic year.
Compare how the two programs prepare students for design
Utah’s required circuits-and-signals courses include laboratories, and programming and technical writing support the later project. Junior Seminar leads toward the two-term group capstone, named Senior Clinic I and II in the revised checklist. This is a useful place to ask how teams choose a problem, test a proposed solution and divide responsibility over both semesters.
Utah State embeds communication in several required design courses alongside Creativity and Communication in Design. Its professional core also requires microelectronics, continuous/discrete signals, microcontrollers and electromagnetics. Students considering a highly specialized elective path should first make sure they want that shared foundation, because the advanced choices follow it rather than replace it.
Account for major progression and engineering course charges
Utah’s ECE policy handbook requires both cumulative and technical GPAs of 2.5 and at least C− in ECE coursework. Its ordinary two-attempt limit counts withdrawals. Utah State separately establishes Engineering Foundations and pre-professional conditions, including specified 2.8 GPA calculations. Those rules are reasons to plan an achievable mathematics and laboratory load early, especially when transferring or studying below full-time.
Utah’s tuition schedule adds a per-credit engineering differential to the applicable lower- or upper-division university rate. Utah State’s full 2026–27 schedule distinguishes lower-division and upper-division engineering differentials on top of Logan tuition and student fees. Compare the courses billed in each semester through our engineering degree cost guide, then subtract individually awarded aid.
Questions, answered
What else should you know?
Which Utah programs are included?+
This selected ranking includes the University of Utah in Salt Lake City and Utah State University in Logan. Both reviewed qualifications are campus bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering. Other Utah programs are outside this reviewed selection.
Which program offers electric-vehicle coursework?+
Utah State’s approved EE electives include Power Electronics for Electric Drive Vehicles and Electric Vehicle Design Laboratory. Ask how the required preparation and course availability fit your planned graduation date; listing an elective does not guarantee a place in a particular term.
What is Utah’s senior electrical project?+
The revised February 2026 checklist lists Junior Seminar and Senior Clinic I and II. The department describes students completing a group project across both terms of the senior year, following the required technical preparation.
Are engineering surcharges the same at Utah and Utah State?+
No. Utah publishes a course-number-based engineering differential alongside lower- and upper-division base tuition. Utah State publishes separate lower- and upper-division engineering per-credit differentials. Use each institution’s own current schedule and your expected courses.
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.
