系统工程（Systems Engineering）是一门交叉学科，专注于如何设计、简化和管理复杂的工程方案——从其动议调研到最后完成的全部生命周期，都属于系统工程的研究范畴。大型复杂的工程方案，所面临的相关问题——如物流、团队协调、可靠性管理、方案评估等——更加困难。系统工程借由工作流程、最优化方法和风险管理工具来处理这类大型而复杂的工程，其研究领域与其它一些以人为中心的技术学科有一定重叠，如控制工程、项目管理、组织管理、工程管理的部分，——与工业工程尤为接近。典型的系统的工程范例有：阿波罗登月计划、国际空间实验站等。
系统工程一般在研究生阶段提供，与跨学科研究相结合，本科极少开设有该专业。系统工程往往是常规的工程课程的延伸，系统工程专业的学生需要在传统的工程学科——如车辆工程，机械工程，计算机工程，电气工程——的基础之上，学习系统工程。再加上实际工作经验，方能成为有效的系统工程师。
系统工程师常用的理论工具如下：
- 系统模型，模拟和仿真（System Model, Modeling, and Simulation）
- 系统架构（System Architecture）
- 最优化（Optimization）
- 系统动力学（System Dynamics）
- 系统分析（Systems Analysis）
- 统计分析（Statistical Analysis）
- 可靠度分析（Reliability Analysis）
- 决策（Decision making）
| 常见学位 | MS、PhD |
| 典型职业与薪水 | 工业工程师：$82,100 |
| 签证敏感度 | 无 |
| 高中课程准备 | 理科 |
| 所属专业领域 | 工科 |
| 相关排名 | 2015USNEWS工业工程排名 |
就业状况
系统工程专业毕业生一般可以进入制造行业，运用系统工程的观点，与团队协作，设计、优化和管理工程方案，缩短工程施工时间、节约成本、提高工程安全性与质量等。也可以走上产品的设计与管理的岗位。
以美国为例，系统工程专业典型从业职业及其薪水如下：
- 工业工程师（Industrial Engineers）：$82,100
- 工业生产经理（Industrial Production Managers）：$97,490
- 健康与安全工程师（Health and Safety Engineers）：$79,760
- 运筹分析师（Operations Research Analysts）：$79,830
2015USNews美国大学研究生工业与制造工程专业排名
| 排名 | 院校 | 学费 | 工程专业研究生注册总人数 |
| #1 | Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA |
$11,324 per year (in-state, full-time); $27,330 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 4,576 |
| #2 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI |
$22,322 per year (in-state, full-time); $41,998 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 3,178 |
| #3 | Northwestern University (McCormick) Evanston, IL |
$45,120 per year (full-time) | 1,799 |
| #3 | University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA |
$11,220 per year (in-state, full-time); $26,322 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,936 |
| #5 | Stanford University Stanford, CA |
$45,480 per year (full-time) | 3,517 |
| #6 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA |
$43,210 per year (full-time) | 3,174 |
| #7 | Cornell University Ithaca, NY |
$29,530 per year (full-time) | 1,812 |
| #8 | Purdue University-West Lafayette West Lafayette, IN |
$10,332 per year (in-state, full-time); $29,134 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 3,333 |
| #8 | Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA |
$11,184 per year (in-state, full-time); $22,146 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 2,193 |
| #10 | University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI |
$11,858 per year (in-state, full-time); $25,184 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,940 |
| #11 | Pennsylvania State University-University Park University Park, PA |
$19,304 per year (in-state, full-time); $32,416 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,719 |
| #12 | Columbia University (Fu Foundation) New York, NY |
$39,360 per year (full-time) | 2,827 |
| #12 | North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC |
$7,173 per year (in-state, full-time); $19,511 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 2,929 |
| #12 | Texas A&M University-College Station (Look) College Station, TX |
$227 per credit (in-state, full-time); $581 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 3,066 |
| #12 | University of Florida Gainesville, FL |
$12,642 per year (in-state, full-time); $30,035 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 2,739 |
| #16 | University of Southern California (Viterbi) Los Angeles, CA |
$29,448 per year (full-time) | 4,857 |
| #17 | Ohio State University Columbus, OH |
$11,928 per year (in-state, full-time); $29,592 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,680 |
| #18 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY |
$45,100 per year (full-time) | 783 |
| #18 | University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign Urbana, IL |
$16,754 per year (in-state, full-time); $30,246 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 3,154 |
| #20 | Arizona State University (Fulton) Tempe, AZ |
$10,300 per year (in-state, full-time); $25,286 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 3,136 |
| #20 | Lehigh University (Rossin) Bethlehem, PA |
$1,300 per credit (full-time) | 826 |
| #20 | Naval Postgraduate School Monterey, CA |
N/A | N/A |
| #23 | Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick Piscataway, NJ |
$15,552 per year (in-state, full-time); $25,704 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,162 |
| #23 | University of Pittsburgh (Swanson) Pittsburgh, PA |
$22,916 per year (in-state, full-time); $37,528 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,067 |
| #25 | Iowa State University Ames, IA |
$9,046 per year (in-state, full-time); $21,304 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,161 |
| #25 | University at Buffalo-SUNY Buffalo, NY |
$9,870 per year (in-state, full-time); $18,350 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,801 |
| #25 | University of Arizona Tucson, AZ |
$10,508 per year (in-state, full-time); $26,380 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,041 |
| #25 | University of Texas-Austin (Cockrell) Austin, TX |
$9,564 per year (in-state, full-time); $17,506 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 2,397 |
| #25 | University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA |
$14,358 per year (in-state, full-time); $23,682 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 655 |
| #30 | Auburn University (Ginn) Auburn University, AL |
$8,262 per year (in-state, full-time); $24,786 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 883 |
| #30 | University of Washington Seattle, WA |
$14,904 per year (in-state, full-time); $27,594 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 2,139 |
| #32 | Clemson University Clemson, SC |
$9,392 per year (in-state, full-time); $19,536 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,427 |
| #32 | George Mason University (Volgenau) Fairfax, VA |
$11,750 per year (in-state, full-time); $25,754 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,599 |
| #32 | University of Arkansas-Fayetteville Fayetteville, AR |
$362 per credit (in-state, full-time); $855 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 459 |
| #32 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA |
$28,768 per year (full-time) | 1,609 |
| #36 | Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH |
$38,588 per year (full-time) | 633 |
| #36 | Northeastern University Boston, MA |
$1,315 per credit (full-time) | 2,690 |
| #38 | University of Illinois-Chicago Chicago, IL |
$13,966 per year (in-state, full-time); $25,964 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,117 |
| #38 | University of Iowa Iowa City, IA |
$8,106 per year (in-state, full-time); $24,690 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 412 |
| #38 | University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA |
$2,640 per year (in-state, full-time); $9,937 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 882 |
| #38 | University of Oklahoma Norman, OK |
$175 per credit (in-state, full-time); $675 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 555 |
| #42 | Air Force Institute of Technology Wright Patterson AFB, OH |
N/A | N/A |
| #42 | George Washington University Washington, DC |
$1,440 per credit (full-time) | 1,701 |
| #42 | Oklahoma State University Stillwater, OK |
$178 per credit (in-state, full-time); $728 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 928 |
| #42 | Stevens Institute of Technology (Schaefer) Hoboken, NJ |
$30,200 per year (full-time) | 1,861 |
| #42 | University of Central Florida Orlando, FL |
$357 per credit (in-state, full-time); $1,182 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,264 |
| #42 | University of Louisville (Speed) Louisville, KY |
$10,778 per year (in-state, full-time); $22,446 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 615 |
| #42 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN |
$14,708 per year (in-state, full-time); $22,990 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,928 |
| #42 | Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO |
$44,100 per year (full-time) | 879 |
| #42 | Wayne State University Detroit, MI |
$643 per credit (in-state, full-time); $1,288 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,019 |
| #51 | Boston University Boston, MA |
$43,970 per year (full-time) | 907 |
| #51 | Kansas State University Manhattan, KS |
$350 per credit (in-state, full-time); $790 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 468 |
| #51 | Missouri University of Science & Technology Rolla, MO |
$6,661 per year (in-state, full-time); $17,199 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,196 |
| #51 | Oregon State University Corvallis, OR |
$13,644 per year (in-state, full-time); $21,177 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 912 |
| #51 | Texas Tech University (Whitacre) Lubbock, TX |
$253 per credit (in-state, full-time); $607 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 728 |
| #56 | University of Tennessee-Knoxville Knoxville, TN |
$10,944 per year (in-state, full-time); $29,432 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 980 |
| #56 | West Virginia University Morgantown, WV |
$8,280 per year (in-state, full-time); $21,906 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 698 |
| #58 | Mississippi State University (Bagley) Mississippi State, MS |
$6,672 per year (in-state, full-time); $16,860 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 590 |
| #58 | University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH |
$12,522 per year (in-state, full-time); $24,036 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 870 |
| #58 | University of Houston (Cullen) Houston, TX |
$483 per credit (in-state, full-time); $837 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,208 |
| #58 | University of Missouri Columbia, MO |
$6,452 per year (in-state, full-time); $15,114 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 651 |
| #58 | University of South Florida Tampa, FL |
$10,428 per year (in-state, full-time); $21,126 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 865 |
| #58 | University of Texas-Arlington Arlington, TX |
$8,558 per year (in-state, full-time); $15,100 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,803 |
| #58 | Wichita State University Wichita, KS |
$253 per credit (in-state, full-time); $638 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 754 |
| #65 | Binghamton University-SUNY (Watson) Binghamton, NY |
$11,474 per year (in-state, full-time); $19,954 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 823 |
| #65 | Florida A&M University - Florida State University Tallahassee, FL |
$479 per credit (in-state, full-time); $1,110 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 269 |
| #65 | Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX |
$1,130 per credit (full-time) | 936 |
| #65 | University of Alabama-Huntsville Huntsville, AL |
$8,912 per year (in-state, full-time); $20,774 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 729 |
| #65 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI |
$11,596 per year (in-state, full-time); $24,061 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 397 |
| #70 | New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ |
$17,384 per year (in-state, full-time); $25,404 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 1,356 |
| #70 | New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM |
$5,398 per year (in-state, full-time); $18,821 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 471 |
| #70 | North Carolina A&T State University Greensboro, NC |
$3,270 per year (in-state, full-time); $14,351 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 369 |
| #70 | Ohio University (Russ) Athens, OH |
$8,474 per year (in-state, full-time); $16,466 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 424 |
| #70 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA |
$23,058 per year (full-time) | 1,125 |
| #75 | Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO |
$10,450 per year (in-state, full-time); $23,240 per year (out-of-state, full-time) | 726 |
| #75 | University of Miami Coral Gables, FL |
$1,730 per credit (full-time) | 276 |
| #75 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE |
$394 per credit (in-state, full-time); $1,022 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 606 |
| #75 | Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI |
$497 per credit (in-state, full-time); $1,052 per credit (out-of-state, full-time) | 460 |