Mechanical Engineering

Is a Mechanical Engineering degree worth it?

Across 309 bachelor's programs that report earnings, the median pays its graduates $65,131 a year after graduation, and the middle half pay between $61,933 and $67,834. The median for all majors is $37,050. At the median program, graduates who borrowed owe $30,590. Debt is 0.47x first-year earnings, which ranks 24th of 147 majors, where 1st carries the least debt for the pay.

Mechanical engineering graduates start out well ahead of most majors, and most programs pay close to the major's median. The top programs admit far fewer students than the typical one, and the most selective private universities send graduates to leading employers and graduate schools, though less selective public campuses in California and Michigan also make the top group; California pays mechanical engineers among the most, and Michigan employs more of them than any other state, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cal Maritime leads the list because many of its students earn a Coast Guard license and work as marine engineers on ships.

The lowest-paying programs include two military colleges, Virginia Military Institute and Norwich University, where many graduates commission through ROTC and start as junior officers. Campuses in Puerto Rico also pay less, since wages on the island fall far below mainland levels and engineering jobs are scarce, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most new mechanical engineers go straight to work, though some continue to graduate school, as Penn's survey of its engineering graduates shows, and median debt comes to under half of first-year earnings.

These are earnings one year after graduating, for students who received federal aid. Majors that lead to graduate school, or to careers that start slowly, look worse here than they will ten years on.