Colgate vs. Lehigh for engineering: which is better for undergrad engineering?

Lehigh is the better choice for undergraduate engineering. It has a full, established engineering college and a much broader set of engineering majors and facilities.

The biggest difference is academic depth. Lehigh offers multiple ABET-accredited engineering fields. Colgate is a liberal arts college without the same scale or breadth in engineering, so it cannot match Lehigh if you want a traditional, comprehensive undergraduate engineering experience.

Lehigh also stands out for hands-on work built into the program. Its engineering students have access to design labs, research spaces, project teams, and industry-connected experiences that are central to an engineering school environment rather than a smaller add-on option. That matters because undergrads benefit from repeated project-based work, not just coursework, and Lehigh is set up to provide that consistently.

One place Colgate can appeal is if you want a liberal arts setting first and are only loosely committed to engineering, especially if you value small-college academics over the infrastructure of an engineering school. But for someone who already knows engineering is the goal, Lehigh gives you more options, more specialized resources, and a degree that will be more straightforwardly recognized in the field.