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2026 Highest Paid Petroleum Engineering Grads in the The Plains States Region

[Petroleum Engineering](/majors/engineering/petroleum-engineering/) is a field where your choice of school can shape what you earn after graduation. A top-earning program sends graduates into careers with strong starting pay.

For its 2026 highest-paid-graduates ranking, College Factual looked at 3 schools to find where petroleum engineering graduates earn the most.

What’s on this page:

• Highest Paid Petroleum Engineering Grads in the The Plains States Region

2026 Highest Paid Petroleum Engineering Grads in the The Plains States Region

Below are the schools whose petroleum engineering graduates go on to earn the most.

Highest Paid Petroleum Engineering Graduates

1

University Of North Dakota
Grand Forks, ND

$95,721 Average Early-Career Salary

University Of North Dakota earned the #1 spot for highest-paid petroleum engineering graduates in the The Plains States Region. Set in the city of Grand Forks, University Of North Dakota is a public institution. Students who complete the petroleum engineering program here go on to a median salary of roughly $95,721.

2

Missouri University Of Science And Technology
Rolla, MO

$91,688 Average Early-Career Salary

Strong graduate earnings at Missouri University Of Science And Technology earned it the #2 place for petroleum engineering. Missouri University Of Science And Technology is a public school located in the town of Rolla. Petroleum Engineering graduates of Missouri University Of Science And Technology earn a median of about $91,688 a year early in their careers.

3

University Of Kansas
Lawrence, KS

$93,860 Average Early-Career Salary

Strong graduate earnings at University Of Kansas earned it the #3 place for petroleum engineering. University Of Kansas is a public school located in the city of Lawrence. After graduating, petroleum engineering degree recipients from University Of Kansas typically earn about $93,860 annually.

View All Petroleum Engineering Rankings >

Notes and References

The ranking above is published by College Factual, 2026 edition. The methodology measures the salaries petroleum 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.

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE), serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Graduate earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard) field-of-study earnings.

More about our data sources and methodologies.