Mechanical research engineer education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a mechanical research engineer. Mechanical research engineers usually study mechanical engineering, physics, or aerospace engineering. 70% of mechanical research engineers hold a bachelor's degree, and 19% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 179 real mechanical research engineer resumes to see exactly what mechanical research engineer education sections show.

The most common colleges for mechanical research engineers are the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

There are also many online mechanical research engineer courses to help get the education required to be a mechanical research engineer.

What education do you need to become a mechanical research engineer?

What degree do you need to be a mechanical research engineer?

The most common degree for mechanical research engineers is bachelor's degree, with 70% of mechanical research engineers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 19% and master's degree degree at 6%.

Bachelor's, 70%

Master's, 19%

Doctorate, 6%

Associate, 4%

Other Degrees, 1%

What should I major in to become a mechanical research engineer?

You should major in mechanical engineering to become a mechanical research engineer. 65% of mechanical research engineers major in mechanical engineering. Other common majors for a mechanical research engineer include physics and aerospace engineering.

Mechanical Engineering, 65%

Physics, 5%

Aerospace Engineering, 4%

Biomedical Engineering, 3%

Other Majors, 23%

Most common colleges for mechanical research engineers

Mechanical research engineers often get their degrees at Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Dayton, and University of Connecticut. Here are the most common colleges for mechanical research engineers in the US based on their resumes.

Mechanical research engineer common college	Percentages
Georgia Institute of Technology	15.00%
University of Dayton	10.00%
University of Connecticut	7.50%
University of Maryland - College Park	7.50%
University of Cincinnati	5.00%

Show more common mechanical research engineer colleges

Best majors for mechanical research engineers

Rank	Major	Percentages
1	Mechanical Engineering	65.2%
2	Physics	4.5%
3	Aerospace Engineering	3.8%
4	Biomedical Engineering	3.0%
5	Mechanical Engineering Technology	3.0%

Show more common mechanical research engineer majors

Best colleges for mechanical research engineers

The best colleges for mechanical research engineers are California Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.

A mechanical research engineer with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for mechanical research engineers. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become mechanical research engineers.

1. Michigan Technological University

Houghton, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,646

Enrollment

5,736

2. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

3. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

4. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

6. Iowa State University of Science and Technology

Ames, IA • Private

In-state tuition

$8,988

Enrollment

29,248

7. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

8. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

9. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-state tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

10. University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, WI • Private

In-state tuition

$10,555

Enrollment

30,360

20 best online courses for mechanical research engineers

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3. Data Center Essentials: Mechanical & Cooling

4.5

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The mechanical cooling systems that support data centers and the internet...

4. Python for Mechanical Engineers

4.3

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Learn Python to solve problems in mechanical fields...

5. Basics of Material selection for mechanical design engineers

4.4

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Learn about the fundamentals of materials and their selection for mechanical engineering design for design engineers...

6. Mechanics / Statics - Introduction to Mechanical Engineering

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Engineering Solid Mechanics / Engineering Statics...

7. The Complete Engineering Mechanics Course

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Master the fundamentals of mechanics, statics and applied physics and then solve real-world mechanics problems...

8. Mechanical design and Product development process

4.2

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9. Diesel Engine Fundamentals (Mechanical Engineering)

4.6

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10. Data Science:Data Mining & Natural Language Processing in R

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15. R Level 1 - Data Analytics with R

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Use R for Data Analytics and Data Mining...

16. Statistics for Data Analysis Using R

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Learn Programming in R & R Studio • Descriptive, Inferential Statistics • Plots for Data Visualization • Data Science...

17. Statistics / Data Analysis: Survey Data and Likert Scales

4.6

(505)

How to Process Survey Data and Analyze Likert Scales In SPSS...

18. Engineering Mechanics: Statics

4.8

(611)

The Study of Objects in Equilibrium...

19. Core Spatial Data Analysis: Introductory GIS with R and QGIS

4.4

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20. Complete Data Wrangling & Data Visualisation With Python

4.4

(853)

Learn to Preprocess, Wrangle and Visualise Data For Practical Data Science Applications in Python...

Top 10 most affordable universities for mechanical research engineers

The most affordable schools for mechanical research engineers are Brigham Young University, inter american university of puerto rico arecibo, and inter american university of puerto rico bayamon.

If the best universities for mechanical research engineers are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for mechanical research engineers.

1. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

2. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Arecibo

Arecibo, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$5,872

Cost of attendance

13,476

3. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon

Bayamon, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$5,940

Cost of attendance

13,508

4. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

5. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

6. Inter American University of Puerto Rico San German

San German, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$5,940

Cost of attendance

14,322

7. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$4,094

Cost of attendance

14,302

8. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$12,424

Cost of attendance

28,501

9. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

10. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Socorro, NM • Private

In-state tuition

$7,770

Cost of attendance

21,244

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for mechanical research engineers

The hardest universities for mechanical research engineers to get into are California Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, and Columbia University in the City of New York.

Some great schools for mechanical research engineers are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for mechanical research engineers based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,566

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,508

3. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,512

4. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

5. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

17%

SAT average

1,507

6. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

SAT average

1,497

7. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,471

8. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,465

9. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

10. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for mechanical research engineers

The easiest schools for mechanical research engineers to get into are Oregon Institute of Technology, saint martin's university, and cleveland state university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a mechanical research engineer without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for mechanical research engineers.

1. Oregon Institute of Technology

Klamath Falls, OR • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,139

2. Saint Martin's University

Lacey, WA • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,111

3. Cleveland State University

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,111

4. Alabama A & M University

Normal, AL • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

957

5. University of Southern Maine

Portland, ME • Private

Admissions rate

85%

SAT average

1,050

6. Purdue University Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne, IN • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,080

7. Old Dominion University

Norfolk, VA • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,093

8. Alcorn State University

Alcorn State, MS • Private

Admissions rate

89%

SAT average

1,026

9. Saint Cloud State University

Saint Cloud, MN • Private

Admissions rate

86%

SAT average

1,086

10. Midwestern State University

Wichita Falls, TX • Private

Admissions rate

71%

SAT average

1,033

Average mechanical research engineer salary by education level

According to our data, mechanical research engineers with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $104,793 annually. Mechanical research engineers with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $96,723.

Mechanical research engineer education level	Mechanical research engineer salary
Master's Degree	$96,723
Bachelor's Degree	$85,491
Doctorate Degree	$104,793

Mechanical research engineer education FAQs

What is the best college for Mechanical Research Engineers?

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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