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Senior engineering team leader education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a senior engineering team leader. Senior engineering team leaders usually study electrical engineering, computer science, or mechanical engineering. 67% of senior engineering team leaders hold a bachelor's degree, and 18% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 922 real senior engineering team leader resumes to see exactly what senior engineering team leader education sections show.

The most common colleges for senior engineering team leaders are the Pennsylvania State University and the Pennsylvania State University.

There are also many online senior engineering team leader courses to help get the education required to be a senior engineering team leader.

There are certain senior engineering team leader certifications that you should consider. These senior engineering team leader certifications include Software Engineering Master Certification (SEMC) and Six Sigma Green Belt.

What education do you need to become a senior engineering team leader?

What degree do you need to be a senior engineering team leader?

The most common degree for senior engineering team leaders is bachelor's degree, with 67% of senior engineering team leaders earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 18% and master's degree degree at 10%.
  • Bachelor's, 67%
  • Master's, 18%
  • Associate, 10%
  • Doctorate, 2%
  • Other Degrees, 3%

What should I major in to become a senior engineering team leader?

You should major in electrical engineering to become a senior engineering team leader. 23% of senior engineering team leaders major in electrical engineering. Other common majors for a senior engineering team leader include computer science and mechanical engineering.

Most common colleges for senior engineering team leaders

Senior engineering team leaders often get their degrees at Pennsylvania State University, University of Phoenix, and Purdue University. Here are the most common colleges for senior engineering team leaders in the US based on their resumes.
Senior engineering team leader common collegePercentages
Pennsylvania State University8.77%
University of Phoenix7.89%
Purdue University7.89%
DeVry University6.14%
Northeastern University6.14%

Best majors for senior engineering team leaders

Best colleges for senior engineering team leaders

The best colleges for senior engineering team leaders are Columbia University in the City of New York, Northwestern University, and Carnegie Mellon University.

A senior engineering team leader with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for senior engineering team leaders. 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 senior engineering team leaders.

1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

2. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

3. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

4. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

5. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

6. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

7. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

8. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

9. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

10. California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$9,816

Enrollment

21,047

20 best online courses for senior engineering team leaders

Advertising disclosure

1. Principles of Leadership: Leading Technical Teams

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This class is about becoming a Great Leader. Great Leaders know how to hire great individuals, form and empower great teams, and delegate to those teams appropriately. Working together with the team, they envision what the organization could be and inspire others to help execute the strategy that will take them there. They protect their team members, empower them, and help them to improve and grow while the team members, in turn, help the organization improve and grow. Great Leaders’ ambition...

2. Challenges of Leading Technical Teams

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Great Leaders lead by example. They protect their team members, empower them, and help them to improve and grow while the team members, in turn, help the organization improve and grow. Working together with the team, they envision what the organization could be and inspire others to help execute the strategy that will take them there. Many times, they see their team members as more of a family than simply as business acquaintances. This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU...

3. Active Directory Pentesting With Kali Linux - Red Team

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4.4
(295)

Attacking and Hacking Active Directory With Kali Linux Full Course - Red Team Hacking Pentesting...

4. Technical Product Management: learn on 4 real industry cases

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4.3
(930)

Boost your technicality (as a PM) or tech product skills (as an engineer) to grow in your current role...

5. Engineering Project Management: Risk, Quality, Teams, and Procurement

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Many Project Managers focus only on the scope, schedule and budget. However, a successful project requires that you manage risk, control the quality of the deliverables, engage and manage people and procure goods and services. This course will focus on these key support functions that make the difference between a highly successful project and an average one. During the course, you will prepare a Qualitative Risk Analysis and Evaluate the Cost of Quality for a provided Case Study. By the end of...

6. Leadership Development for Engineers

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Engineers wanting to advance their careers must be able to lead teams effectively.\n\nThis Specialization is designed for professional engineers who are interested in advancing into leadership and management roles. You’ll develop awareness of your own strengths and weaknesses as a leader, and you’ll learn to leverage your strengths and control for your weaknesses when you’re placed in charge of a team or project. You’ll also learn to manage relationships with your team members and colleagues...

7. Virtual Teams: Remote Team Management & Leadership

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4.6
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Managing a remote team as a leader. Virtual team management & motivation...

8. Team Building- Great team leaders earn more-2022

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4
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Leadership and management,leadership, leadership skills, team leadership, team building, leadership development, led, HR...

9. Interpersonal Communication for Engineering Leaders

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This course covers communication skills that engineering leaders use every day to motivate, inspire, and support the people in their organizations. Speaking and writing are basic leadership communication skills. (We covered these topics in the Specialization course 1 and 3.) However, leaders also need to be skillful interpersonal communicators. Modern business requires communication skills that are effective across cultures, generations, and genders. Communication is also a key skill in...

10. IT Support Technical Skills Bootcamp

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4.5
(1,653)

Hands-on Technical skills for IT Support Professionals...

11. From Engineer to Technical Manager: A Survival Guide

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4.6
(872)

New manager training for engineers - smooth the transition from individual contributor to manager or team lead...

12. Active Directory Pentesting Full Course - Red Team Hacking

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4.4
(546)

Attacking and Hacking Active Directory...

13. Leadership: New Manager Training for Technical Professionals

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4.2
(766)

Learn to establish yourself as a manager and lead your technical team to success. We are PDU Accredited...

14. [Active Directory] Management using Windows PowerShell

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4.5
(1,078)

[Power Shell] Simplified practical knowledge for automation & management of [Active Directory] using Windows Power Shell...

15. VMware vSphere 6.7 Optimize Upgrade Troubleshoot w. Ebook

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4.7
(898)

34.5hrs of VMware v Sphere 6.7 lectures, lab demos to learn ESXi / v Center, for VCP / VCAP VMware Certification and more...

16. Advanced React For Enterprise: React for senior engineers

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A practical deep dive into building, scaling and maintaining high-quality design systems for software engineers...

17. Microsoft Teams: Teams Essentials for the workplace

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Microsoft Teams Fundamentals and Essentials Teams Crash Course Office 365 Teams for Business; Microsoft Teams Course...

18. [NEW]Google Cloud Digital Leader Certification-For Beginners

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Cloud Computing basics with Google Cloud, Become Certified Cloud Digital Leader, Build as per official new syllabus...

19. Customer Service & Support For Customer Service Executives

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Learn Customer Service Skills & Provide Excellent Customer Support, Customer Experience & How To Manage Upset Customers...

20. Microsoft Teams Ultimate Guide

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4.3
(1,029)

Everything you need to know about Microsoft Teams...

Top 10 most affordable universities for senior engineering team leaders

The most affordable schools for senior engineering team leaders are United States Merchant Marine Academy, university of florida, and california state university - long beach.

If the best universities for senior engineering team leaders 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 senior engineering team leaders.

1. United States Merchant Marine Academy

Kings Point, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$1,080

Cost of attendance

6,646

2. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

4. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

5. City College of New York of the City University of New York, The

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,140

Cost of attendance

14,430

6. New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Socorro, NM • Private

In-state tuition

$7,770

Cost of attendance

21,244

7. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

8. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

9. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

10. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$4,094

Cost of attendance

14,302

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for senior engineering team leaders

The hardest universities for senior engineering team leaders to get into are Columbia University in the City of New York, Northwestern University, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Some great schools for senior engineering team leaders 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 senior engineering team leaders 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. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

3. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

17%

SAT average

1,507

4. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

7%

SAT average

1,545

7. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,471

8. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

9. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

Admissions rate

5%

SAT average

1,520

10. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO • Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for senior engineering team leaders

The easiest schools for senior engineering team leaders to get into are Texas A&M; University - Kingsville, the university of texas at el paso, and oklahoma wesleyan university.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a senior engineering team leader 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 senior engineering team leaders.

1. Texas A&M University - Kingsville

Kingsville, TX • Private

Admissions rate

89%

SAT average

1,035

2. The University of Texas at El Paso

El Paso, TX • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,035

3. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

4. The University of Texas Permian Basin

Odessa, TX • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,046

5. Oregon Institute of Technology

Klamath Falls, OR • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,139

6. Pennsylvania State University - Fayette (The Eberly Campus)

Lemont Furnace, PA • Private

Admissions rate

80%

SAT average

1,067

7. Pennsylvania State University - DuBois

DuBois, PA • Private

Admissions rate

85%

SAT average

1,079

8. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

9. Saint Martin's University

Lacey, WA • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,111

10. Capitol Technology University

Laurel, MD • Private

Admissions rate

69%

SAT average

1,070

Average senior engineering team leader salary by education level

Senior engineering team leaders with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $140,410 annually. With a Master's degree, senior engineering team leaders earn a median annual income of $131,003 compared to $123,039 for senior engineering team leaders with an Bachelor's degree.
Senior engineering team leader education levelSenior engineering team leader salary
Master's Degree$131,003
Bachelor's Degree$123,039
Doctorate Degree$140,410

Senior engineering team leader education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

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