Post job

Transportation planning engineer education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a transportation planning engineer. Transportation planning engineers usually study civil engineering, business, or electrical engineering. 65% of transportation planning engineers hold a bachelor's degree, and 22% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 66 real transportation planning engineer resumes to see exactly what transportation planning engineer education sections show.

The most common colleges for transportation planning engineers are the San Diego State University and the San Diego State University.

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

What education do you need to become a transportation planning engineer?

What degree do you need to be a transportation planning engineer?

The most common degree for transportation planning engineers is bachelor's degree, with 65% of transportation planning engineers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 22% and master's degree degree at 5%.
  • Bachelor's, 65%
  • Master's, 22%
  • Associate, 5%
  • High School Diploma, 4%
  • Other Degrees, 4%

What should I major in to become a transportation planning engineer?

You should major in civil engineering to become a transportation planning engineer. 33% of transportation planning engineers major in civil engineering. Other common majors for a transportation planning engineer include business and electrical engineering.

Most common colleges for transportation planning engineers

Transportation planning engineers often get their degrees at San Diego State University, New York University, and University of Florida. Here are the most common colleges for transportation planning engineers in the US based on their resumes.
Transportation planning engineer common collegePercentages
San Diego State University9.52%
New York University4.76%
University of Florida4.76%
University of North Carolina at Greensboro4.76%
Florida State College at Jacksonville4.76%

Best majors for transportation planning engineers

RankMajorPercentages
1Civil Engineering33.3%
2Business15.7%
3Electrical Engineering9.8%
4Urban Planning5.9%
5Geology3.9%

Best colleges for transportation planning engineers

The best colleges for transportation planning engineers are Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, and Carnegie Mellon University.

A transportation planning 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 transportation planning 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 transportation planning engineers.

1. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

2. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

5. Stanford University

Stanford, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

6. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, MN ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$14,760

Enrollment

31,451

7. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

8. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

9. University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$13,226

Enrollment

31,568

10. University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$14,184

Enrollment

30,845

20 best online courses for transportation planning engineers

Advertising disclosure

1. Cross-border road transport in EU law context

coursera

Have you ever wondered which legal rules are applicable to cross-border EU road transport? Are you interested in the issues revolving around EU employment law in the international road transport sector? Then, on behalf of the University of Antwerp, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of GdaƄsk, University of Luxembourg and Tilburg University, we would like to welcome you to this MOOC on Cross-border Road Transport in EU law context. This MOOC is a part of the Erasmus + Project funded by...

2. Engineering Project Management: Initiating and Planning

coursera

The goal of the course is to give you the tools to initiate a project plan, manage both stakeholders and relationships, organize their team, develop a project charter, and build a business case for a project. By the end of this course you will be able to: - Perform a project assessment using information from previous projects and lessons learned - Identify key deliverables based on business requirements while managing customer expectations - Perform a stakeholder analysis and create a...

3. Logistics Management: International Transport & Shipping

udemy
4.6
(1,665)

Logistics Supply Chain Management Basics - Transport / Import - Export your Freight / Inventory by Air, Sea or Land...

4. Transport logistics - Introduction to transport modes

udemy
4.6
(1,038)

Logistics, transport and shipping - Learn about Truck, Air, Ocean, Barge and Rail transport modes...

5. Supply Chain Fundamentals: Logistic & Transportation

udemy
4.5
(577)

Learn the Fundamentals of Logistic, Warehouse, Inbound, Picking, Packing, transportation and apply it to any ERP system...

6. International Logistics & Transportation in Supply Chain.

udemy
4.5
(2,446)

Logistics Management, Supply Chain Calculation, Documents & Export Import Logistics, Logistics & Supply Chain Management...

7. Logistics, transportation and supply chain management

udemy
4.5
(618)

Operational tools and practical methodology for organizing shipping/transportation of goods : Big picture and guidance...

8. SAP: Supply Chain Logistics & Transportation in S/4 HANA

udemy
4.4
(1,249)

Everything you need to know about SAP S/4 HANA Supply Chain Logistics and Transportation Management in one place...

9. BIM applications for Roads, Highways & Transportation design

udemy
4.5
(274)

Your guide to plan, design, analyze and manage roads design and transportation projects using infraworks BIM application...

10. Railway Systems Engineering (Equivalent to Micro MSc )

udemy
4.3
(377)

A Journey in the World of Railway Systems Operation Rolling Stock Traction System Engineering Infrastructure...

11. CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure - Transport Technologies

udemy
4.8
(298)

This course covers Section 3.0, Transport Technologies, for the CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure Practical Exam...

12. Complete Primavera P6 training; Project Planning

udemy
4.3
(304)

Master project planning and scheduling with Primavera P6 (Basic & Advance)...

13. Project Planning with Advanced Roadmaps for Jira

udemy
4.5
(3,724)

Learn JIRA's project planning and agile road-mapping tool with a real-world project...

14. Advanced Planning & Scheduling with Primavera P6

udemy
4.6
(495)

Learn advanced planning & scheduling concepts, and apply them using Primavera P6 and MS Excel...

15. Learn Risk Management: Risk Planning in Agile and Scrum

udemy
4.4
(712)

Complete Risk Management and Risk Planning Training: Identify Project Risks, Create Risk Plan and Monitor Risks in Scrum...

16. Strategic Planning Skills

udemy
4.4
(1,227)

Strategic Planning Skills...

17. Software Engineering 101: Plan and Execute Better Software.

udemy
4.6
(9,607)

Software Engineering 101: Use Software Engineering to Plan and Build Amazing Software + Learn SCRUM Framework!...

18. Environmental sustainability in Maritime transport Industry

udemy
4.7
(312)

A course dedicated to Marine life and Marine Ecosystem...

19. Strong & Effective Marketing Plan (Plan Template & Example)

udemy
4.2
(675)

Innovative approach for a winning offline and digital marketing plan (important part of your business plan)...

20. Agile Project Management: Requirements,Planning and Tracking

udemy
4.3
(3,998)

Learn about User Stories, Backlog management, Planning Poker, Story points and Velocity,Burn up and Burn down charts...

Top 10 most affordable universities for transportation planning engineers

The most affordable schools for transportation planning engineers are University of Florida, california state university - long beach, and suny farmingdale.

If the best universities for transportation planning 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 transportation planning engineers.

1. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

2. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

3. SUNY Farmingdale

Farmingdale, NY ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$8,306

Cost of attendance

16,091

4. 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

5. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

6. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

7. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

8. Florida International University

Miami, FL ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

9. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

10. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton, CA ‱ Private

In-state tuition

$6,886

Cost of attendance

17,645

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for transportation planning engineers

The hardest universities for transportation planning engineers to get into are Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins University, and Carnegie Mellon University.

Some great schools for transportation planning 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 transportation planning 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. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL ‱ Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD ‱ Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

3. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

17%

SAT average

1,507

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY ‱ Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

5. Stanford University

Stanford, CA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

6. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

7. Northeastern University

Boston, MA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

8. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,492

9. Washington University in St Louis

Saint Louis, MO ‱ Private

Admissions rate

15%

SAT average

1,506

10. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI ‱ Private

Admissions rate

23%

SAT average

1,434

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for transportation planning engineers

The easiest schools for transportation planning engineers to get into are Texas A&M; University - Kingsville, oregon institute of technology, and pennsylvania state university - dubois.

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

1. Texas A&M University - Kingsville

Kingsville, TX ‱ Private

Admissions rate

89%

SAT average

1,035

2. Oregon Institute of Technology

Klamath Falls, OR ‱ Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,139

3. Pennsylvania State University - DuBois

DuBois, PA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

85%

SAT average

1,079

4. Oklahoma Wesleyan University

Bartlesville, OK ‱ Private

Admissions rate

68%

SAT average

964

5. Notre Dame de Namur University

Belmont, CA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

82%

SAT average

983

6. The University of Texas at El Paso

El Paso, TX ‱ Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,035

7. Capitol Technology University

Laurel, MD ‱ Private

Admissions rate

69%

SAT average

1,070

8. University of the Incarnate Word

San Antonio, TX ‱ Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,044

9. Pennsylvania State University - Altoona

Altoona, PA ‱ Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,094

10. Notre Dame College

Cleveland, OH ‱ Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

994

Average transportation planning engineer salary by education level

According to our data, transportation planning engineers with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $73,217 annually. Transportation planning engineers with a Doctorate degree earn an average annual salary of $72,921.
Transportation planning engineer education levelTransportation planning engineer salary
Master's Degree$73,217
Bachelor's Degree$66,178
Doctorate Degree$72,921

Transportation planning engineer education FAQs

Search for transportation planning engineer jobs

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.

Browse architecture and engineering jobs