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List of All U.S. Colleges with a Biomedical Engineering Major

Biomedical engineering might make you think of scenes from science fiction movies, conjuring a Frankenstein-like image in your mind. However, the work of biomedical engineers is much more common than you’d think – this field involves the creation of medical technologies that are complex and obscure, as well as those tools and devices that are omnipresent in many people’s lives.

 

Colleges around the country have added this growing, interdisciplinary field to their offered majors. Though this is a highly specialized field, job opportunities abound in creating, maintaining, and improving a range of biomedical devices and equipment. You might find yourself programming an automated surgical procedure, creating prosthetics, or tinkering with the latest in breathing assistance technology. 

 

If biomedical engineering sounds like it’s up your alley, read on to learn more about which schools offer the major and what you should look for in a program. 

 

Overview of the Biomedical Engineering Major

 

Biomedical engineering is an inherently interdisciplinary field and requires a range of foundations in different fields. For a more comprehensive look at what it takes to become a biomedical engineering major, check out our blog article, which covers the steps you should take from high school to pursue this major. 

 

In college, students will need to have a strong foundation in the life sciences, such as biology and chemistry. They will also likely take rigorous course material in math and physics. In addition, BME majors need technical education, so to have a working knowledge of computer science, they must take introductory programming classes. 

 

Introductory bioengineering courses often combine this subject material to provide students with these subjects in an interdisciplinary format. Upper division courses allow students to explore more specialized fields, customizing their education to better align with their interests and career aspirations. Some examples of these are Medical Imaging (University of Florida), Neural Interfacing (Case Western Reserve University), Microcomputer-Based Instrumentation Lab (Wayne State University).

 

Students in this major need to have an aptitude for STEM subjects, and the ability to integrate them in an interdisciplinary manner to aid them in coursework. The learning material is an eclectic blend of varied but challenging subjects, so you’ll need to be able to understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie and change your study behavior accordingly. The field is also everchanging, so you’ll need to keep up with the latest biomedical technological developments, and be on the lookout for startups as you apply to internships and jobs.  

 

Many biomedical engineering majors go into the field right after their undergraduate career, but some careers will require a license, especially in the government. Graduate school is also an option. This will afford you the opportunity to hone your skills even further and delve deeper into a particular subfield of biomedical engineering. The prerequisites often align so that medical school is also an option for these majors. Though less common, students can also go on to business school, where they can delve into the corporate aspects of the biomedical field, or law school, where they can learn more about medical technology policies and patent law. 

 

Popular career paths for this major center densely in the field of biomedical engineering; however, within this subject are a host of career possibilities. Most of these job prospects center around improving medical care for patients and lowering the cost of existing technologies by making them more efficiently. Biomedical engineers can go into research, materials development, manufacturing, rehabilitation engineering, and technological advancement. 

 

Because both the medical and technological field are both growing exponentially, the biomedical engineering field is also experiencing rapid growth. As more advancements are made, these engineers are able to solve issues in order to increase people’s lifespan and improve their quality of life. 

 

What to Look for in a College as a Biomedical Engineering Major

 

Laboratory Equipment 

 

Biomedical engineering requires hands-on components for students to receive a well-rounded education that adequately prepares them for the field. You’ll want to be working with cutting-edge tools and novel equipment to gain a solid understanding of where the industry is headed. Look into the quality of laboratories and equipment at prospective schools and see what sparks your interest. For example, the University of Vermont lists out its BME equipment, which includes cell culture incubators and compound microscopes.

 

Internship Opportunities 

 

As you look for ways to continue your education over the summer, you’ll probably consider pursuing internships at biomedical or tech companies. It is imperative that you research what resources the school has in place for professional development. For example, do they have mentorship programs or biomedical-specific career fairs? Are the professors well-connected in the industry? Is the school located in a biomedical tech hub, such as Northern California or D.C.?

 

Senior Capstone Project

 

Many schools require biomedical engineering students to create and complete a senior capstone project. This is usually a group effort, where you’ll be able to apply what you’ve learned during undergrad to a hands-on project with several peers. Through this capstone, you’ll be able to create a device that could actually revolutionize the biomedical field. Examples of previous projects include a Scoliosis Simulator (CMU ‘20), an Intra-abdominal Biodegradable Amylase Sensor (Illinois ‘19), and a Dynamic Rocking Wheelchair (Brown ‘20). 

 

List of All U.S. Colleges With a Biomedical Engineering Major

 

School

City

State

Texas A&M University

College Station

Texas

Endicott College

Beverly

Massachusetts

New Jersey Institute of Technology | NJIT

Newark

New Jersey

University of California, Riverside | UC Riverside

Riverside

California

University of California, Irvine | UC Irvine

Irvine

California

Central Michigan University | CMU

Mount Pleasant

Michigan

Colorado State University | CSU

Fort Collins

Colorado

North Carolina State University | NC State

Raleigh

North Carolina

Clemson University

Clemson

South Carolina

University of Connecticut | UConn

Storrs

Connecticut

Trinity College

Hartford

Connecticut

Michigan Technological University | Michigan Tech

Houghton

Michigan

University of California, San Diego | UCSD

La Jolla

California

Rowan University

Glassboro

New Jersey

Arizona State University | ASU

Tempe

Arizona

Northwestern University

Evanston

Illinois

University of Hartford

West Hartford

Connecticut

University of California, Santa Cruz | UCSC

Santa Cruz

California

University of North Texas | UNT

Denton

Texas

University of Memphis

Memphis

Tennessee

Gannon University

Erie

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania State University | PSU

University Park

Pennsylvania

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology | RHIT

Terre Haute

Indiana

California Polytechnic State University | Cal Poly

San Luis Obispo

California

University of Vermont | UVM

Burlington

Vermont

Grand Canyon University | GCU

Phoenix

Arizona

Milwaukee School of Engineering | MSOE

Milwaukee

Wisconsin

Purdue University

West Lafayette

Indiana

University of Michigan

Ann Arbor

Michigan

Rutgers University-New Brunswick | Rutgers

New Brunswick

New Jersey

Messiah College

Mechanicsburg

Pennsylvania

University of Houston

Houston

Texas

Rice University

Houston

Texas

Dordt College

Sioux Center

Iowa

George Mason University

Fairfax

Virginia

Mississippi State University | MSU

Mississippi State

Mississippi

Stanford University

Stanford

California

The State University of New York at Stony Brook | SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook

New York

California Institute of Technology | Caltech

Pasadena

California

San Diego State University | SDSU

San Diego

California

Wentworth Institute of Technology | WIT

Boston

Massachusetts

Tufts University

Medford

Massachusetts

Harvard University

Cambridge

Massachusetts

Boston University | BU

Boston

Massachusetts

Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MIT

Cambridge

Massachusetts

Vanderbilt University

Nashville

Tennessee

Ohio State University | OSU

Columbus

Ohio

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities | Minnesota

Minneapolis

Minnesota

Lehigh University

Bethlehem

Pennsylvania

The College of New Jersey | TCNJ

Ewing

New Jersey

University of Wisconsin-Madison | Wisconsin

Madison

Wisconsin

Cornell University

Ithaca

New York

University of New Hampshire | UNH

Durham

New Hampshire

Dartmouth College

Hanover

New Hampshire

Jackson State University | JSU

Jackson

Mississippi

Rochester Institute of Technology | RIT

Rochester

New York

University of Rochester

Rochester

New York

Bucknell University

Lewisburg

Pennsylvania

Oregon State University | OSU

Corvallis

Oregon

University of California, Davis | UC Davis

Davis

California

University of Arizona

Tucson

Arizona

Union College (New York)

Schenectady

New York

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | RPI

Troy

New York

University of Cincinnati

Cincinnati

Ohio

Miami University

Oxford

Ohio

University of Texas at Austin | UT Austin

Austin

Texas

University of California, Berkeley | UC Berkeley

Berkeley

California

Walla Walla University

College Place

Washington

Washington State University | WSU

Pullman

Washington

University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | UMass Dartmouth

North Dartmouth

Massachusetts

Worcester Polytechnic Institute | WPI

Worcester

Massachusetts

Tulane University

New Orleans

Louisiana

George Fox University | GFU

Newberg

Oregon

University of Louisville

Louisville

Kentucky

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville

Arkansas

University of Virginia | UVA

Charlottesville

Virginia

Marquette University

Milwaukee

Wisconsin

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | UWM

Milwaukee

Wisconsin

Western New England University | WNE

Springfield

Massachusetts

University of Pittsburgh | Pitt

Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania

Duquesne University

Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania

Carnegie Mellon University | CMU

Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania

Johns Hopkins University | JHU

Baltimore

Maryland

San Jose State University | SJSU

San Jose

California

Santa Clara University

Santa Clara

California

Montana State University | MSU

Bozeman

Montana

University of Oklahoma

Norman

Oklahoma

Georgia Institute of Technology | Georgia Tech

Atlanta

Georgia

University of Rhode Island | URI

Kingston

Rhode Island

Brown University

Providence

Rhode Island

University of Florida

Gainesville

Florida

North Carolina A&T State University | N.C. A&T

Greensboro

North Carolina

Elon University

Elon

North Carolina

University of Akron

Akron

Ohio

Florida Institute of Technology | Florida Tech

Melbourne

Florida

University of Iowa

Iowa City

Iowa

Louisiana Tech University | La. Tech

Ruston

Louisiana

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis | IUPUI

Indianapolis

Indiana

Wichita State University | WSU

Wichita

Kansas

SUNY – College of Environmental Science and Forestry | SUNY ESF

Syracuse

New York

Syracuse University

Syracuse

New York

Saint Louis University | SLU

Saint Louis

Missouri

Washington University in St. Louis | WashU

Saint Louis

Missouri

Wayne State University | WSU

Detroit

Michigan

University of Illinois at Chicago | UIC

Chicago

Illinois

Illinois Institute of Technology | Illinois Tech

Chicago

Illinois

University of California, Los Angeles | UCLA

Los Angeles

California

Florida International University | FIU

Miami

Florida

University of Miami

Coral Gables

Florida

West Virginia University | WVU

Morgantown

West Virginia

University of Colorado Denver | CU Denver

Denver

Colorado

Colorado School of Mines | Mines

Golden

Colorado

University of Delaware

Newark

Delaware

Louisiana State University | LSU

Baton Rouge

Louisiana

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | UIUC

Champaign

Illinois

Case Western Reserve University

Cleveland

Ohio

University of Tennessee

Knoxville

Tennessee

University of Texas at Arlington | UT Arlington

Arlington

Texas

University of South Carolina | USC

Columbia

South Carolina

University of Utah

Salt Lake City

Utah

University of Toledo

Toledo

Ohio

The State University of New York at Binghamton | SUNY Binghamton

Vestal

New York

Wright State University

Dayton

Ohio

Widener University

Chester

Pennsylvania

Duke University

Durham

North Carolina

University of Texas at Dallas | UT Dallas

Richardson

Texas

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | UNC

Chapel Hill

North Carolina

Virginia Commonwealth University | VCU

Richmond

Virginia

University of Pennsylvania | UPenn

Philadelphia

Pennsylvania

Drexel University

Philadelphia

Pennsylvania

Temple University

Philadelphia

Pennsylvania

University of Southern California | USC

Los Angeles

California

Columbia University

New York

New York

City College of New York | CCNY

New York

New York

University of Texas at San Antonio | UTSA

San Antonio

Texas

University of the Pacific

Stockton

California

University of California, Merced | UC Merced

Merced

California

University of Maine

Orono

Maine

University of Washington

Seattle

Washington

University of Alabama at Birmingham | UAB

Birmingham

Alabama

Yale University

New Haven

Connecticut

Fairfield University

Fairfield

Connecticut

Stevens Institute of Technology

Hoboken

New Jersey

George Washington University | GW

Washington

Washington DC

Catholic University of America | CUA

Washington

Washington DC

 

What Are Your Chances of Acceptance?

 

Regardless of what major you choose, you’ll want to first ensure that you’re academically comparable to the university’s previously accepted students. Most selective schools use a tool called the Academic Index to filter out applicants based on quantitative data. This is the initial “hoop” you’ll need to jump through for your entire application to be considered. 

 

Engineering programs also often have a separate essay; you may even need to apply directly to the college of engineering rather than the larger university. In high school, try to demonstrate your interest in biomedical engineering by joining related activities, such as robotics, HOSA, and volunteering in hospitals. You should also take the most advanced STEM courses possible.

 

In addition to this, you need to ensure that the more qualitative aspects of your application match up with what the school is looking for in a candidate. Each school has a unique culture, and prioritizes different qualities. This information is usually explicitly on the school website in the form of values, or can be gleaned from a perusal of their admission materials and online presence. On your application, ensure that your extracurriculars and essays paint an accurate picture of who you are that aligns with what the college is looking for. 

 

For more insight regarding your chances of attending a particular school, we recommend using our free Chancing Engine. Unlike other admissions calculators, it takes into account a large portion of your individual profile, including academic stats and more qualitative factors like extracurriculars.


Short Bio
Priya has been working at CollegeVine for two years in various capacities, including mentoring students, editing hundreds of essays, and creating blog content. She has also interned in healthcare consulting. She is extremely grateful for all the help she received as an applicant and wants to pay it forward by demystifying the admissions process for others.