Best General Engineering Degree Programs in Pennsylvania in 2026
General engineering degrees in Pennsylvania offer several distinct ways to build technical depth. Swarthmore organizes advanced study through an advised elective plan. Elizabethtown offers nine concentrations and required internship experience. Geneva combines its engineering core and concentration planning with Christian ethics and vocation coursework.
Start with how you want to learn and the technical subjects you want to keep open. These reviewed degrees all cross disciplines, but their project sequences, campus settings and academic requirements lead to different college experiences.
How we ranked general engineering bachelor’s programs in Pennsylvania
This selection covers three Pennsylvania bachelor's degrees in Engineering with official program and curriculum evidence. Each review considers the actual degree, technical choices, practical work, entry requirements and published cost conditions.
Swarthmore leads for the flexibility of its advised engineering electives within a liberal arts degree. Elizabethtown follows for its concentration range and required internship and project sequence. Geneva adds a broad B.S.E. with a clearly integrated Christian curriculum. The order is editorial and applies to these reviewed programs.
Institution-wide billed tuition and books, including an $800 Textbook Affordability Program credit. The $482 student activities fee, housing, food and other expenses are additional. Financial aid is determined individually, and the official page links to the college net price calculator.
Swarthmore’s clearly defined general engineering degree leaves meaningful room for a broader liberal arts education. All engineering majors receive a B.S. in Engineering, while advanced electives can follow civil and environmental, computer, electrical or mechanical interests. The current catalog requires seven engineering core courses and five engineering elective course credits, supported by mathematics and science. Students develop a coherent advanced plan with an adviser. Senior Engineering Design ends with a written project report and oral presentation that serve as the major's comprehensive examination.
Where it stands out
Swarthmore fits a student who wants technical study alongside another substantial academic interest. Its department explicitly supports double majors, minors and individually planned electives. Faculty teach the engineering courses and labs, and students can discuss participation in faculty research as their interests develop.
What to weigh
The breadth of the major makes your elective plan especially important if you already have a specialized goal. Major acceptance normally occurs in sophomore spring and includes engineering GPA and prerequisite-grade requirements. Additional courses at Penn are an option to investigate when your intended specialization needs coursework beyond Swarthmore's offerings.
The 2026–27 major requires seven engineering core courses and five engineering elective course credits.
Core subjects include mechanics, circuit analysis, linear physical systems, computer engineering and engineering design.
Students also complete eight course credits in mathematics and science; an adviser helps organize the advanced elective plan.
Areas of focus
Civil/environmental elective pathway
Computer elective pathway
Electrical elective pathway
Mechanical elective pathway
Individually planned electives
Admission & progression
Declare the major in the second semester of sophomore year.
Typical acceptance criteria include at least three engineering course credits and an engineering GPA of 2.0 or better.
Required preparation includes C- or better in specified calculus, mechanics and circuit-analysis courses; submit the elective plan for departmental approval.
Design & practical experience
Engineering courses incorporate laboratory work.
Engineering Design in the spring of senior year culminates in a project report and oral presentation.
Students can seek faculty research opportunities and arrange additional specialized coursework at the University of Pennsylvania.
Institution-wide undergraduate tuition. A $1,030 comprehensive fee, housing, food and other expenses are additional. Individual aid depends on financial need and academic profile; the published aid examples are illustrations, and the college provides a net price calculator using your own information.
Elizabethtown makes applied experience part of the degree requirements and offers substantial choice within a single Engineering B.S. Every concentration shares subjects including circuits, statics, dynamics, signals and systems, and sustainable design. Community, junior and senior projects appear in the required sequence, as does an engineering internship. Nine concentrations include an Integrated option built from courses across the other areas. This combination makes the program useful for students who want a broad foundation but also want a visible technical direction and work experience before graduation.
Where it stands out
Look closely at Elizabethtown if you learn well through repeated projects and want an internship built into your plan. The Integrated and Mechatronics concentrations offer two different ways to combine disciplines. A five-year co-op option adds longer periods of full-time work for students willing to extend the degree.
What to weigh
The co-op calendar and finances need deliberate planning. The catalog describes a semester administrative fee, deferred scholarships and grants, and no financial-aid award during co-op semesters. The regular degree also has a 125-credit minimum, so the selected concentration and core courses may need additional electives to reach graduation requirements.
$35,630 · Annual undergraduate tuition and fees before aid
Cost basis & conditions +
Geneva's traditional undergraduate tuition and fees. Housing and the residential meal plan are additional. The college considers applicants for institutional scholarships and provides an individual net price calculator.
Geneva's B.S.E. combines a broad engineering core with a concentration chosen through faculty advising. The curriculum explicitly connects technical work and Christian ethics, including courses on engineering vocation and professional decisions. Solid Mechanics uses laboratory work to study the behavior of materials, and Senior Design asks you to work on a client project or a realistic engineering problem. Engineering internships and intercollegiate competitions provide additional ways to practice beyond the classroom. The degree's accreditation covers the Engineering program under ABET's engineering and general engineering criteria.
Where it stands out
Consider Geneva if you want a Christian college where faith is part of the engineering coursework itself. Its Beaver Falls setting and project work involving the greater Pittsburgh region may also suit students who want to investigate that area while choosing a technical concentration.
What to weigh
The concentration requires an advised plan, so review the actual upper-level sequence before deciding how much disciplinary depth it offers for your goal. Arrive prepared for the mathematics sequence: the admissions office specifically calls for precalculus or trigonometry, chemistry and physics. The published tuition-and-fees figure still needs housing and meals added to your budget.
The B.S.E. uses a common engineering core, with an adviser helping you choose a technical concentration.
Solid Mechanics includes hands-on laboratory work on material behavior.
Engineering Calling and Vocation and Christian Ethics and Engineering connect technical decisions with the college's Christian curriculum.
Admission & progression
Submit an undergraduate application and official high school transcripts; transfer applicants also submit transcripts from every college attended.
Engineering applicants should complete chemistry and physics plus four units of college preparatory mathematics, including trigonometry or precalculus.
Standardized testing is recommended for placement. Applicants without scores take the required Geneva placement examinations before course registration.
Design & practical experience
Senior Design involves a project for a real client or realistic engineering design problems.
Students can pursue engineering internships and participate in intercollegiate engineering competitions.
What matters in general engineering bachelor’s programs in Pennsylvania
Breadth with technical direction
We consider how a common engineering foundation connects to advanced electives or a named concentration.
Projects with defined requirements
Senior design requirements, internships and co-op calendars help show how you will apply the classroom work.
An understandable entry and cost plan
Major acceptance, prerequisites, tuition categories and extra terms can change your practical choice even when the degree titles look similar.
How general engineering degrees in Pennsylvania organize technical depth
Swarthmore lets you organize engineering electives around areas such as civil and environmental, computer, electrical or mechanical interests. The major requires departmental approval of the plan, so think about your upper-level direction before sophomore-year major acceptance.
Elizabethtown makes that decision through nine concentrations. Its Integrated option combines courses across the other concentrations, while Mechatronics offers another way to connect technical areas. If that concentration interests you, the mechatronics program guide can help you compare the field before reviewing Elizabethtown's individual requirements.
Geneva pairs its common engineering core with a concentration selected through advising. Its engineering ethics and vocation courses also make Christian study part of the major's academic experience.
Look at the work you must complete before graduating
At Swarthmore, senior Engineering Design ends with a project report and oral presentation. Elizabethtown spreads required projects through the degree and includes an engineering internship. Geneva's Senior Design involves a real client or realistic design problems.
Those are useful differences if you want repeated structured work experience or a particular kind of final project. Elizabethtown's optional five-year co-op adds longer full-time work rotations, but it also changes the academic calendar. Compare the regular degree and co-op plan separately.
Check the step that comes after college admission
Swarthmore's engineering major normally accepts students in sophomore spring and applies course and grade requirements. Elizabethtown uses prerequisite-grade rules to determine progression. Geneva asks engineering applicants to arrive with chemistry, physics and mathematics through trigonometry or precalculus.
The cost disclosures use different categories: Swarthmore combines tuition and books, Elizabethtown lists tuition with a separate comprehensive fee, and Geneva lists tuition and fees together. Add housing and food before comparing aid offers. If you choose Elizabethtown's co-op, review the catalog's administrative fee and aid treatment during work semesters.
Questions, answered
What else should you know?
Are these Pennsylvania degrees in Engineering or separate specialty majors?+
The reviewed programs award a B.S. or B.S.E. in Engineering. Students build technical depth through electives or concentrations within that degree. Use the catalog title and concentration requirements together when comparing them.
Which reviewed program requires an engineering internship?+
Elizabethtown requires at least one credit of engineering internship. Its optional five-year co-op is a separate route with longer work rotations and a different calendar.
Can I combine general engineering with mechatronics?+
Elizabethtown offers a Mechatronics concentration within its Engineering B.S. Review its course sequence alongside the Integrated concentration if you want to combine disciplines in a different way.
Does a higher tuition figure mean a higher final cost?+
Your aid offer and living costs determine the amount you need to fund. The schools' published figures include different billing categories, so compare equivalent annual budgets and separate grants from loans.
Keep researching
Choosing a general engineering degree
Learn what a general engineering degree covers, how concentrations build technical depth and how broad bachelor's programs compare with specialized majors.
