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Special project engineer education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a special project engineer. Special project engineers usually study business, mechanical engineering, or electrical engineering. 62% of special project engineers hold a bachelor's degree, and 13% hold an associate degree. We analyzed 1,431 real special project engineer resumes to see exactly what special project engineer education sections show.

The most common colleges for special project engineers are the University of Phoenix and the University of Phoenix.

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

What education do you need to become a special project engineer?

What degree do you need to be a special project engineer?

The most common degree for special project engineers is bachelor's degree, with 62% of special project engineers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are associate degree degree at 13% and associate degree degree at 11%.
  • Bachelor's, 62%
  • Associate, 13%
  • Master's, 11%
  • High School Diploma, 8%
  • Other Degrees, 6%

What should I major in to become a special project engineer?

You should major in business to become a special project engineer. 22% of special project engineers major in business. Other common majors for a special project engineer include mechanical engineering and electrical engineering.

Most common colleges for special project engineers

Special project engineers often get their degrees at University of Phoenix, New York University, and University of Cincinnati. Here are the most common colleges for special project engineers in the US based on their resumes.
Special project engineer common collegePercentages
University of Phoenix15.00%
New York University5.00%
University of Cincinnati5.00%
Arizona State University5.00%
Pennsylvania State University5.00%

Best majors for special project engineers

Best colleges for special project engineers

The best colleges for special project engineers are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania.

A special project 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 special project 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 special project engineers.

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

6. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

7. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

8. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

9. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

10. SUNY Stony Brook

Stony Brook, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,625

Enrollment

17,407

20 best online courses for special project engineers

Advertising disclosure

1. Managing Major Engineering Projects

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Accelerate your career by improving your project management skills. This Specialization delivers a rigorous exploration of the best practices for planning and delivering these major engineering projects. You’ll learn about the measures of success, how to resolve challenges of governance and typical financing approaches of these projects.\n\nIf you are an engineer or a project manager and you aspire to get involved with major engineering projects, or you are already working on one, then this...

2. Engineering Project Management

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Master strategies and tools to more effectively and successfully manage projects.\n\nToday’s professional environment is highly competitive, continuously changing, and difficult to manage. Employees rarely reach positions of leadership without managing one or more projects or a project segment early in their career.\n\nBrought to you by the Rice Center of Engineering Leadership and team behind the engineering management master's program, the goal of this Specialization is to give you the tools...

3. CompTIA Project+ Exam Prep

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How to pass the Comp TIA Project+ Exam...

4. Apply finance concepts for smart project management

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4.2
(338)

Learn to read financial statements and make meaningful interpretations for business decisions in the age of big data...

5. Project Management

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The Project Management specialization is designed to be an introduction to the project management discipline, including the concepts, tools, and techniques used in the management and leadership of projects. Key topics covered include the role of the project manager; the project team; cost, schedule and risk management; quality in projects; and the project lifecycle.\n\nThe courses in this specialization can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in...

6. Agile Crash Course: Agile Project Management; Agile Delivery

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Agile Project Management Basics (Scrum) & Agile Project Management Essentials (Scrum). Plus Agile Certification (Scrum)...

7. IT Project Budget & Cost Management

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Project Management tips to manage a million dollar IT Project budget from start to finish...

8. 2 Real World Azure Data Engineer Project End to End

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Engineering Project Building from scratch including designing, architecting, implementing solution and overall testing...

9. Project Management: Simple Software Project Management

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Project Management for NEW Project Managers - knowledge, tools, techniques, skills, checklists, guidelines, pitfalls...

10. Mastering Agile Scrum Project Management

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Review and master agile development & scrum methodologies for your career...

11. Project Management - Complete Guide For A+ Project Managers

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Complete guide to project management - stakeholders, planning, cost, quality, risks, feasibility, methods & resourcing...

12. Microsoft Project ADVANCED: Project Management Technics 3PDU

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MS PROJECT 2016 ADVANCED Project Management Techniques -incl Enterprise level. HANDS-ON from #1 BESTSELLING INSTRUCTOR...

13. Azure Synapse Analytics For Data Engineers -Hands On Project

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Hands on Project for Data Engineers using all the services available in Azure Synapse Analytics [DP-203, DP-500]...

14. Project Management: Becoming a Successful Project manager

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Project Management...

15. Project Management for Beginners: Fundamentals Crash Course

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Project Management Training for new Project Managers - Introduction to Project Management Certification - PMP - Agile...

16. Beginning Project Management: Project Management Level One

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Project Management: Growing a Successful Career as a Project Manager...

17. Project Management Essentials

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A crash course in the essentials of project management for new project managers...

18. Projects Cost Management, Estimating, Budgeting and Control.

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Learn how to estimate costs for any project, how to determine budget and how to use Earned Value Management tools. 3 PDU...

19. Project Management Fundamentals

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Practical Project Management worked example using Gantt Charts, PMI, PMP, APM...

20. Master Course in Project Management 2.0

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Project Management, PMP, Agile project management, Project manager, Prince2, Scrum, Project Planning, Project risk cost...

Top 10 most affordable universities for special project engineers

The most affordable schools for special project engineers are California State University - Bakersfield, suny farmingdale, and university of florida.

If the best universities for special project 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 special project engineers.

1. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

2. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

3. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

4. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

5. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

6. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

7. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$4,094

Cost of attendance

14,302

8. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

9. Baruch College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,262

Cost of attendance

14,046

10. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for special project engineers

The hardest universities for special project engineers to get into are Stanford University, Northwestern University, and University of Pennsylvania.

Some great schools for special project 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 special project 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. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

2. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

3. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

5. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

6. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

7. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

Admissions rate

29%

SAT average

1,407

9. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

10. Yale University

New Haven, CT • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,517

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for special project engineers

The easiest schools for special project engineers to get into are Oklahoma Wesleyan University, notre dame college, and lim college.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a special project 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 special project engineers.

1. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK • Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

2. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

3. LIM College

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

1,061

4. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA • Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

5. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

6. Oregon Institute of Technology

Klamath Falls, OR • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,139

7. Capitol Technology University

Laurel, MD • Private

Admissions rate

69%

SAT average

1,070

8. Presentation College

Aberdeen, SD • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,050

9. Fresno Pacific University

Fresno, CA • Private

Admissions rate

85%

SAT average

1,053

10. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

Average special project engineer salary by education level

Special project engineers with a Doctorate degree earn more than those without, at $85,220 annually. With a Master's degree, special project engineers earn a median annual income of $78,975 compared to $70,240 for special project engineers with an Bachelor's degree.
Special project engineer education levelSpecial project engineer salary
Master's Degree$78,975
Bachelor's Degree$70,240
Doctorate Degree$85,220

Special project engineer 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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