by our College Data Analytics Team
[Mining Engineering](/majors/engineering/mining-engineering/) programs reward a close look at where graduates go on to earn the most. The highest-paying schools turn a mining engineering degree into the strongest early-career earnings.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 3 schools on the early-career earnings of their mining engineering graduates.
What’s on this page:
Below are the schools whose mining engineering graduates go on to earn the most.
Our analysis ranked West Virginia University the top school for mining engineering graduate earnings in the Southeast Region. Set in the city of Morgantown, West Virginia University is a public institution. Mining Engineering graduates of West Virginia University earn a median of about $92,289 a year early in their careers.
Strong graduate earnings at University Of Kentucky earned it the #2 place for mining engineering. University Of Kentucky is a public school located in the city of Lexington. Early-career mining engineering graduates from University Of Kentucky make a median of around $85,709 per year.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University came in at #3 on our 2026 list of the highest-paying mining engineering schools. Set in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University is a public institution. Students who complete the mining engineering program here go on to a median salary of roughly $96,761.
The ranking above is published by College Factual, 2026 edition. The methodology measures the salaries mining engineering graduates go on to earn early in their careers, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard field-of-study earnings and IPEDS).
Ranking method: College Major Earnings · 3 schools evaluated.
*Salary figures reflect median early-career earnings (about 5 years after graduation) and may vary by how long a person takes to complete their degree.
More about our data sources and methodologies.