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Validation engineer education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a validation engineer. Validation engineers usually study electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, or chemical engineering. 72% of validation engineers hold a bachelor's degree, and 18% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 4,703 real validation engineer resumes to see exactly what validation engineer education sections show.

The most common colleges for validation engineers are the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Campus and the University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Campus.

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

There are certain validation engineer certifications that you should consider. These validation engineer certifications include Engineer In Training Certification (EIT) and Certified Quality Engineer (CQE).

What education do you need to become a validation engineer?

What degree do you need to be a validation engineer?

The most common degree for validation engineers is bachelor's degree, with 72% of validation engineers earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 18% and master's degree degree at 7%.
  • Bachelor's, 72%
  • Master's, 18%
  • Associate, 7%
  • Diploma, 1%
  • Other Degrees, 2%

What should I major in to become a validation engineer?

You should major in electrical engineering to become a validation engineer. 23% of validation engineers major in electrical engineering. Other common majors for a validation engineer include mechanical engineering and chemical engineering.

Most common colleges for validation engineers

Validation engineers often get their degrees at University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Campus, Stevens Institute of Technology, and New Jersey Institute of Technology. Here are the most common colleges for validation engineers in the US based on their resumes.
Validation engineer common collegePercentages
University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras Campus9.08%
Stevens Institute of Technology8.03%
New Jersey Institute of Technology6.81%
Purdue University6.63%
University of California - Davis6.28%

Best majors for validation engineers

Best colleges for validation engineers

The best colleges for validation engineers are Northwestern University, California Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins University.

A validation 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 validation 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 validation engineers.

1. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

In-state tuition

$12,424

Enrollment

15,201

2. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$55,188

Enrollment

15,105

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-state tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$59,430

Enrollment

8,216

5. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-state tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

6. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

7. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

8. Pennsylvania State University

University Park, PA • Private

In-state tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

9. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

10. Michigan Technological University

Houghton, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,646

Enrollment

5,736

20 best online courses for validation engineers

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1. Automate Validation using the Data Validation Tool (DVT)

coursera

This is a self-paced lab that takes place in the Google Cloud console. Data validation is a critical step in data warehouse, database, or data lake migration. DVT prints results in the command line interface by default, but can also write results to BigQuery. It is recommended to use BigQuery as a report handler to store and analyze the output...

2. How to Validate your Startup Idea

coursera

Starting a new business begins with an idea that needs to evolve through experimentation, iteration and interactions with people. This course is for existing and potential entrepreneurs who are looking for guidance and support to make their ‘great idea’ a reality. In addition to reviewing the basic principles of entrepreneurship, this course guides you through the process of actively validating your idea in the market. We encourage you to identify and communicate good opportunities and to...

3. Medical Device Process Validation. ISO 13485. IQ OQ PQ.

udemy
4.4
(900)

Validate a process to gain approval to sell medical devices in the EU, U.S. & Internationally. Compliance to ISO 13485...

4. ISO 13485 - IQOQPQ - Process Validation for Medical Devices

udemy
4.1
(389)

Installation Qualification (IQ), Operational Qualification (OQ) & Performance Qualification (PQ) Medical Devices...

5. Validating Policies for Terraform on Google Cloud

coursera

This is a self-paced lab that takes place in the Google Cloud console. In this lab, you will learn how to validate policies for Terraform...

6. System Validation: Automata and behavioural equivalences

coursera

Have you ever experienced software systems failing? Websites crash, calendar not synchronising, or even a power blackout. Of course you have! But did you know that many of these errors are the result of communication errors either within a system or between systems? Depending on the system, the impact of software failures can be huge, even resulting in massive economic damage or loss of lives. Software, and in particular the communication between software-intensive systems, is very complex and...

7. Idea Validation: From Idea to Paying Customer in One Day

udemy
4.5
(533)

Learn how to test your business and product ideas online quickly, cheaply, and easily. Make sales before you launch...

8. SAP MDG - UI, FPM, Adaptations, Derivations and Validations

udemy
4.4
(353)

Best course to learn SAP MDG - UI, FPM, Adaptations, Derivations, Validations and adding fields on UI with demonstration...

9. How to Use the Lean Canvas to Validate Your Business Model

coursera

By the end of this guided project, you will be able to use the Lean Canvas to test your startup business model hypothesis, and validate the key assumptions. The Lean Canvas serves as a tactical planning tool to guide entrepreneurs in navigating their way from ideation to building a successful business. The Lean Canvas is created especially for entrepreneurs to make it easier for the founders to work their way around the most critical aspects of starting a business. These steps range from...

10. Validating Your Strategy with Market Opportunity Navigator

coursera

By the end of this guided project, you will able to design and analyze the three important steps that are necessary for assessing your innovation’s market opportunities. You will know how the market opportunity navigator answers one of the most difficult questions any aspiring entrepreneur or innovator must ask: “which target market should I serve”? We will use the spreadsheet to sketch the market opportunity navigator, and conduct the analysis by working through the three worksheets. You will...

11. How To Validate Any Business Idea

udemy
4
(1,282)

Use Our 1 Page Business Startup Guide to Quickly Test Your Business Ideas...

12. Requirements Engineering: Software Engineering

udemy
4.4
(754)

Everything you need to know about software requirements: elicitation, analysis, documentation, validation and management...

13. Practical Regulatory Affairs 2020 - US FDA Medical Devices

udemy
4.4
(726)

A practical course discussing the US FDA Medical Device regulations for real-world situations...

14. ISO 13485 Demystified - Medical Devices' QMS 360° Insights

udemy
4
(648)

Deep dive into the world of ISO 13485 international standard for medical devices' QMS, basic concepts & requirements...

15. Medical Device Regulation 2017/745 EU regulatory affairs.

udemy
4.3
(764)

Understand regulations for medical devices in simple terms to gain market approval of a medical device in the EU...

16. Discover, Validate & Launch New Business Ideas with ChatGPT

udemy
4.4
(2,867)

A Comprehensive Entrepreneurship Course to Find, Evaluate and Launch Innovative Business Ideas with the help of Chat GPT...

17. Internal audit on Medical Device QMS - ISO 13485:2016

udemy
4.3
(578)

Successfully conduct an internal audit based on requirements of ISO 13485:2016 for Medical Device Development and QMS...

18. EU Medical Device Regulatory Affairs explained Simply

udemy
4.3
(391)

How to get approval to sell Medical Devices within the European Union. Understand regulatory affairs & ISO 13485 2016...

19. The Non-Technical Person's guide to building products & apps

udemy
4.7
(743)

Go from Idea to MVP with no CTO and no coding. Launch your business, app, or product idea cheaply, quickly, and easily...

20. Applied ISO14971 Medical Device Risk Management

udemy
4.5
(637)

A concise guide to executing ISO 14971 requirements...

Top 10 most affordable universities for validation engineers

The most affordable schools for validation engineers are California State University - Long Beach, brigham young university, and university of puerto rico - mayaguez.

If the best universities for validation 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 validation engineers.

1. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

2. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

3. University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez

Mayaguez, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$4,094

Cost of attendance

14,302

4. Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon

Bayamon, PR • Private

In-state tuition

$5,940

Cost of attendance

13,508

5. Florida International University

Miami, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,556

Cost of attendance

19,434

6. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

7. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Pomona, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,353

Cost of attendance

21,302

8. California State University - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,749

Cost of attendance

14,823

9. West Virginia University Institute of Technology

Beckley, WV • Private

In-state tuition

$7,464

Cost of attendance

17,166

10. Purdue University

West Lafayette, IN • Private

In-state tuition

$9,992

Cost of attendance

22,430

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for validation engineers

The hardest universities for validation engineers to get into are Northwestern University, California Institute of Technology, and Johns Hopkins University.

Some great schools for validation 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 validation 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. California Institute of Technology

Pasadena, CA • Private

Admissions rate

7%

SAT average

1,566

3. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

4. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

Admissions rate

17%

SAT average

1,507

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

6. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

Admissions rate

4%

SAT average

1,497

7. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

8. Cornell University

Ithaca, NY • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,471

9. Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta, GA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,465

10. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

22%

SAT average

1,420

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for validation engineers

The easiest schools for validation engineers to get into are Oregon Institute of Technology, capitol technology university, and pennsylvania state university - berks.

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

1. Oregon Institute of Technology

Klamath Falls, OR • Private

Admissions rate

96%

SAT average

1,139

2. Capitol Technology University

Laurel, MD • Private

Admissions rate

69%

SAT average

1,070

3. Pennsylvania State University - Berks

Reading, PA • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,107

4. Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi

Corpus Christi, TX • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,068

5. Cleveland State University

Cleveland, OH • Private

Admissions rate

88%

SAT average

1,111

6. South Dakota State University

Brookings, SD • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,149

7. Purdue University Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne, IN • Private

Admissions rate

97%

SAT average

1,080

8. Alabama A & M University

Normal, AL • Private

Admissions rate

90%

SAT average

957

9. Pennsylvania State University - Altoona

Altoona, PA • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,094

10. Old Dominion University

Norfolk, VA • Private

Admissions rate

87%

SAT average

1,093

Average validation engineer salary by education level

According to our data, validation engineers with a Doctorate degree earn the highest average salary, at $95,746 annually. Validation engineers with a Master's degree earn an average annual salary of $88,666.
Validation engineer education levelValidation engineer salary
Master's Degree$88,666
Bachelor's Degree$80,824
Doctorate Degree$95,746

Validation 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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