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Best Online Electrical Engineering Degrees (2026)
Updated September 5, 2026BLS dataCollege ScorecardOn this page
Key takeaway: Electrical engineering is the calculus-and-physics discipline behind circuits, power systems, signals, semiconductors, and embedded hardware. The credential that matters is ABET accreditation of the bachelor’s program, because ABET graduation is what most state boards accept as the education requirement for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and, later, the Professional Engineer license. Be clear-eyed about the online market: a fully online, ABET-accredited BS in Electrical Engineering is rare. Most online options are degree-completion programs for students who already finished the math and science core on campus, electrical engineering technology degrees accredited under a different ABET commission, or master’s programs. Electrical engineers earned a median annual wage of $120,630 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Compare accredited programs below.
The reason the online supply is thin is laboratory work. Circuits, electronics, and power labs need instrumentation and supervised measurement, and ABET criteria expect real experimental practice. Schools solve it with mailed lab kits, remote-access instrument benches, or short on-campus lab intensives, and those solutions are uneven. In IPEDS 2024, 396 institutions reported bachelor’s-or-higher completions in electrical engineering fields, and 359 of them reported offering distance-education programs (IPEDS 2024) – but that count includes every distance program on campus, not an online BSEE at each school. Browse the best accredited online colleges to compare institutions, and see electrical engineering programs by state to find programs near you.
Schools Offering Electrical Engineering Programs
These accredited schools offer online programs. Request information to compare programs, formats, and lab requirements.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
Graduation rate 30%
Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
Average net price (lower is better) 20%
Retention rate 15%
Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
BOC
Ranked by BOC Score — U.S. Dept. of Education outcome data. Advertising never affects rankings.
Careers and Wages for Electrical Engineering Graduates
Electrical engineering graduates design and test hardware: power generation and distribution, motors and drives, control systems, communications equipment, integrated circuits, and the embedded electronics inside almost every product with a battery. The occupations below are the ones this coursework feeds. Median annual wages come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program.
Median annual wage for the highest-paying electrical engineering careers. Source: BLS OEWS. Chart: Best Online College.View the data behind this chart
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians
$78,190
Electrical and Electronics Drafters
$76,870
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Projected job growth (2024-2034) for electrical engineering careers. Source: BLS Employment Projections. Chart: Best Online College.View the data behind this chart
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians
0.6%
Electrical and Electronics Drafters
-5.6%
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Electrical EngineersSOC 17-2071
$120,630Median annual pay
Median hourly$58.00
Mean annual$125,100
Employment (US)198,750
Pay range (25-75%)$92,830 - $152,950
Electronics Engineers, Except ComputerSOC 17-2072
$130,220Median annual pay
Median hourly$62.60
Mean annual$137,280
Employment (US)96,900
Pay range (25-75%)$101,680 - $167,670
Computer Hardware EngineersSOC 17-2061
$161,740Median annual pay
Median hourly$77.76
Mean annual$162,670
Employment (US)76,660
Pay range (25-75%)$126,090 - $202,990
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and TechniciansSOC 17-3023
$78,190Median annual pay
Median hourly$37.59
Mean annual$80,680
Employment (US)95,130
Pay range (25-75%)$61,610 - $97,650
Electrical and Electronics DraftersSOC 17-3012
$76,870Median annual pay
Median hourly$36.96
Mean annual$81,280
Employment (US)17,920
Pay range (25-75%)$61,430 - $96,730
Architectural and Engineering ManagersSOC 11-9041
$171,270Median annual pay
Median hourly$82.34
Mean annual$181,540
Employment (US)220,260
Pay range (25-75%)$139,360 - $212,500
Mechanical EngineersSOC 17-2141
$104,110Median annual pay
Median hourly$50.05
Mean annual$113,610
Employment (US)296,810
Pay range (25-75%)$84,130 - $132,590
Engineers, All OtherSOC 17-2199
$122,930Median annual pay
Median hourly$59.10
Mean annual$125,330
Employment (US)154,070
Pay range (25-75%)$90,970 - $158,090
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Electrical engineers had a median annual wage of $120,630, with the 10th percentile at $76,550 and the 90th percentile at $184,300 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment was 192,000 in 2024 and is projected to grow 7.2 percent through 2034, with 11,700 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Electronics engineers, except computer, are the closest neighboring occupation: a median annual wage of $130,220, a 10th percentile of $81,840, a 90th percentile of $206,960, employment of 95,900, projected growth of 6.2 percent, and 5,700 openings per year. Computer hardware engineers pay the highest median of the three at $161,740, with a 90th percentile of $225,330, employment of 76,800, projected growth of 7.3 percent, and 4,700 openings per year. That is the design-side band.
The technician and drafting side of the field is a different labor market. Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians had a median annual wage of $78,190, employment of 93,700, projected growth of 0.6 percent, and 8,400 openings per year. Electrical and electronics drafters had a median annual wage of $76,870 and are projected to decline 5.6 percent from 2024 to 2034, with 1,700 openings per year. Those roles typically hire from associate degrees and technology programs, not from a BSEE. Later in a career, architectural and engineering managers had a median annual wage of $171,270 with 14,500 openings per year, and that path normally runs through years of engineering practice rather than straight from a degree. Individual outcomes vary by employer, industry, geography, clearance requirements, and experience.
Quick Answers
Can you get an electrical engineering degree online?
Partly. Online master’s degrees in electrical engineering are common and well established. A fully online, ABET-accredited bachelor’s in electrical engineering is rare, because circuits, electronics, and power laboratories are hard to deliver at a distance. What you will find more often online is a degree-completion BSEE for students who already have the calculus, physics, and lower-division engineering core, a bachelor’s in electrical engineering technology, or a hybrid program with required on-campus lab sessions. Read each program page for the words “ABET-accredited” and for the lab requirement before you assume it is fully remote.
Does ABET accreditation matter for electrical engineering?
Yes, more than for most majors. ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission accredits BSEE programs, and most state licensing boards treat graduation from an ABET-accredited engineering program as the education path to the Professional Engineer license. Non-ABET routes exist in some states but usually require more documented experience. Institutional accreditation is still the first check; ABET is the second one specific to this field. Verify the institution through the U.S. Department of Education database and the program through ABET.
Do I need a PE license to work as an electrical engineer?
Usually not. Most electrical engineers work for manufacturers, utilities, defense contractors, and technology companies under the industry exemption in their state’s practice act, and never take the Professional Engineer exam. The license matters if you offer engineering services to the public, sign and seal drawings, work in consulting, or hold a role that requires it for advancement. Even if you never license, many students take the Fundamentals of Engineering exam in the senior year, because the exam is easier while the coursework is fresh.
What is the difference between electrical engineering and electrical engineering technology?
Electrical engineering is the analysis-and-design degree, built on calculus through differential equations, calculus-based physics, and theory courses such as signals and systems and electromagnetics. Electrical engineering technology is the applied-implementation degree: more hands-on instrumentation and less mathematical derivation, accredited under ABET’s Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission rather than the Engineering Accreditation Commission. Technology degrees are more commonly available online. They can lead to strong technical careers, and in many states they are a slower or blocked path to the PE license. Ask the board in your state before choosing.
Is electrical engineering the same as computer engineering?
No, though they overlap heavily at the hardware boundary. Electrical engineering spans power, analog and radio-frequency electronics, control, and signal processing along with digital hardware. Computer engineering concentrates on digital systems, computer architecture, and the hardware-software interface. If processors, embedded firmware, and system design are the appeal, compare the computer engineering silo. If power, analog design, or communications hardware is the appeal, stay here.
What you’ll study
An electrical engineering curriculum stacks in three layers, and the first one screens out more students than the major itself does.
The first layer is math and science. Calculus I through III, differential equations, linear algebra, calculus-based physics with mechanics and electricity and magnetism, and chemistry or a science elective. These are prerequisites in a strict chain: you cannot take circuits without calculus and physics, and you cannot take signals and systems without differential equations. If you are transferring in, the transcript question that decides your timeline is which of these courses transferred, not how many total credits did.
The second layer is the engineering core. Circuit analysis, digital logic design, electronics and semiconductor devices, signals and systems, electromagnetic fields, probability and random signals, and a programming or computational methods sequence. Each of these typically carries a laboratory: build the circuit, measure it on an oscilloscope, explain why the measurement disagrees with the model. That lab requirement is the single biggest constraint on online delivery.
The third layer is the concentration and the capstone. Common tracks are power systems and energy, control systems, communications and signal processing, microelectronics and VLSI, embedded systems, and photonics. ABET-accredited programs end in a major design experience: a team capstone with real constraints, standards, and a deliverable. Ask how an online student joins a capstone team, because a distributed hardware project is genuinely harder to run than a distributed software project.
Bachelor’s programs generally run about 128 to 132 semester hours rather than the 120 typical of other majors, because of the math, science, and lab load. Confirm each school’s total in the catalog. For how the delivery works in practice, see how online electrical engineering degrees work.
Careers for electrical engineering graduates
The work splits into recognizable industry lanes.
Power and energy covers generation, transmission, distribution, protection relaying, and increasingly grid interconnection for renewables and storage. This is the lane where the Professional Engineer license shows up most often, because utility and consulting work touches public infrastructure.
Electronics and semiconductors covers analog and mixed-signal design, radio-frequency and power electronics, printed circuit board design, and integrated circuit work. Electronics engineers, except computer, had a median annual wage of $130,220 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Much of this hiring runs through manufacturers and defense contractors, and some roles require a security clearance that you cannot obtain on your own.
Computer hardware sits at the boundary with computer engineering: processors, memory systems, boards, and the firmware that drives them. Computer hardware engineers had a median annual wage of $161,740 with 4,700 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034), a small occupation with high pay.
Controls, instrumentation, and test appear across manufacturing, aerospace, medical devices, and automotive. Titles here get confusing: “controls engineer” can mean a licensed power professional or a programmable-logic-controller programmer on a plant floor. Read the duties and the required software before you read the title.
ABET, and which commission – confirm the specific program is accredited, and whether it is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (engineering) or the Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission (technology). They are different credentials with different licensure consequences.
Read the lab plan – mailed kits, remote instrument access, a partner lab near you, or required on-campus intensives. Ask how many trips, when, and for how long.
Check the math entry point – whether the program starts at calculus or expects you to arrive with the calculus and physics sequence finished. This decides whether it is a four-year degree or a completion program.
Pick the level honestly – compare the bachelor’s and the master’s. A master’s does not substitute for a missing ABET bachelor’s on the licensure path in most states.
Ask about the capstone – how remote students are assigned to design teams, and what hardware they are expected to supply.
Compare pacing and cost drivers – weigh accelerated formats against standard pace, and review how to compare cost using total credits and fees rather than an advertised rate.
Electrical engineering or a related field? Choose electrical engineering for circuits, power, signals, and hardware design. Choose computer engineering if digital systems and the hardware-software boundary are the target. Consider the broader engineering program guide if you are still choosing a discipline, and its electrical engineering concentration page for how the specialization sits inside a general engineering degree. Look at engineering management if you already work as an engineer and want the leadership track, or technology if applied systems and IT work fit better than mathematical design.
