Undergraduate Programs

Are you ready to make an impact on the world? The Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering (MechSE) at Illinois is consistently ranked in the Top 10 by U.S. News & World Report, and for good reason! Students from both of our majors— Engineering Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering—make a real impact here and abroad. They are solving today’s most pressing technological challenges in energy and the environment, biology and health care, defense and security, transportation, micro-nano technology, design and manufacturing, robotics, and many other areas. Our students gain the problem-solving and communication skills to excel in non-traditional areas like finance, management, business, medicine, and law. 

MechSE MakerWorks

Take a tour of the our state-of-the-art MakerWorks spaces to learn more about the equipment and services available to MechSE students for creating and innovating.

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Bachelor of Science in Engineering Mechanics

Mechanical Science and Engineering. Mechanics is the study of forces that act on bodies and the resultant motion that those bodies experience. 

BS in Engineering Mechanics

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Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical Science and Engineering. Among the most diverse of the engineering fields, mechanical engineering affects almost all aspects of our lives and embraces many areas of specialization

BS in Mechanical Engineering

Enrollment and degree trends

Historic MechSE Annual AY Undergraduate Student Enrollments
Historic MechSE Annual Academic Year Undergraduate Student Enrollments
Chart showing historic degrees awarded with an upward trend
Historic MechSE Annual Calendar Year Undergraduate Degrees Awarded

For full information on the enrollment by year, students graduated, and many other details of the MechSE department, see http://www.dmi.illinois.edu/cp. To navigate to the program data, select "Engineering" under "Select a Major Unit" and "Mechanical Science & Engr" for "Department." Specific data for students may be found by selecting "Student Data" under "Jump to Data." Enrollment in the program by academic year may be found under item 3660 and students graduated are listed under item 4420 on this web page.

MechSE Department Facts

Enrollment

In the 2022-23 term, the MechSE Department has 934 undergraduate students majoring in Mechanical Engineering; 105 undergraduate students majoring in Engineering Mechanics as provided by the Division of Management Information's Fall 2022 10-day report; 128 graduate students working on master's degrees (42 thesis, 86 non-thesis); and 315 graduate students working on PhD degrees.

Degrees Granted

In the 2022 calendar year, the MechSE Department awarded 315 bachelor of science degrees, with 284 of these in Mechanical Engineering and 31 in Engineering Mechanics. During the same period, the MechSE Department awarded 39 MEng degrees, 33  MS degrees, and 55 PhD degrees.

Faculty

MechSE’s 65+ full-time faculty are all active in research and publish in high-impact journals, such as Science, Nature, Applied Physics Letters, and more. Even more impressive, Engineering at Illinois faculty are ranked first among our peers in the number of publications per faculty. On average, 20 or more of the papers written by senior professors are cited more than 10 times. More than half have received young investigator awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) or Department of Defense.

Research

Research expenditures of $25 million allow faculty and students to advance knowledge in key fundamental areas such as biomechanical sciences, fluid mechanics, solid mechanics, thermodynamics and heat transfer, applied physics, chemistry, dynamics and controls, computational science and applied math.

Rankings

MechSE's undergraduate program is currently ranked 5th, and our graduate program is ranked 5th best in the U.S. with a #3 ranked online master's program, according to US News & World Report for 2024.

Other Statistics

The median ACT composite score of undergraduate students entering the department was 32.4 in 2020; however, test scores were not required for the 2021, 2022, nor 2023 admission cycles. You can find other Engineering Mechanics or Mechanical Engineering specific undergraduate program statistics on the Illinois Admissions majors webpage.

Undergraduate Programs Contacts

Academic Advising & Prospective Student Information:
mechse-ug-advise@illinois.edu

Secondary Fields, Curriculum Modifications/Petitions, Study Abroad:
Stephanie Ott-Monsivais,  ottmonsi@illinois.edu, 217-300-3102

Scholarships, MechSE events, Student Societies: 
Missy Biehl,  mbiehl@illinois.edu, 217-300-0278

Submit Your Feedback to The Undergraduate Office:
Feedback Form

MechSE's Undergraduate Programs Office is located in 1056 Lu MEB and open Monday through Friday from 8 am - noon and 1 - 4:30 pm.

CONTACT THE UNDERGRADUATE OFFICE:
mechse-undergrad@illinois.edu