2021 Highest Paid Engineering Graduates
Finding the Best Engineering School for You
Engineering is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 4th of all the majors we analyze. In 2018-2019, 128,724 bachelor's degrees were awarded to students with this major.
The engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Highest Paid Engineering Graduates.
This year's Highest Paid Engineering Graduates ranking analyzed 343 colleges that offered a bachelor's degree in engineering.
The numbers used in this ranking are early career salaries, which we define to be 10 years after a student started college. This is the salary typically earned 4-6 years after graduation, but may be different depending on how long a person takes to complete their degree.
How Much Do Engineering Majors Make After Graduation?
After graduation, engineering majors from schools in the United States earn an average salary of $62,200 per year. This is great news for these degree holders since it is 56% more than the national average of $39,802 for typical college graduates!
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2021 Highest Paid Engineering Grads in the United States
The highest paid engineering majors graduate from the following colleges and universities.
Top 25 Best Schools for Highly Paid Engineering Graduates
University of California - Berkeley landed the #1 spot in our 2021 rankings for highest paid engineering school. Located in the medium-sized city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a fairly large student population.
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Maine Maritime Academy earned the #2 spot in our 2021 rankings. Maine Maritime is a small public school located in the rural area of Castine.
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Harvard University earned the #2 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the midsize city of Cambridge, Harvard is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
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The #3 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.
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United States Naval Academy landed the #3 spot in our 2021 rankings for highest paid engineering school. Located in the large suburb of Annapolis, Annapolis is a public college with a small student population.
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Princeton University comes in at #4 in this year's ranking. Princeton is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Princeton.
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Our rankings recognize Massachusetts Maritime Academy as the #4 school in this year's rankings. Maritime is a small public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Buzzards Bay.
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Yale University earned the #5 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the midsize city of New Haven, Yale is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.
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Santa Clara University earned the #5 spot in our 2021 rankings. SCU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Santa Clara.
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The #6 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Cambridge.
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California State University Maritime Academy landed the #7 spot in our 2021 rankings for highest paid engineering school. Cal Maritime is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Vallejo.
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Our rankings recognize Harvey Mudd College as the #8 school in this year's rankings. Harvey Mudd College is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Claremont.
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University of Michigan - Dearborn earned the #9 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the small city of Dearborn, UM Dearborn is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
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SUNY Maritime College earned the #10 spot in our 2021 rankings. SUNY Maritime College is a small public school located in the city of Throggs Neck.
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The #11 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Kettering University. Kettering is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Flint.
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Olin College earned the #12 spot in our 2021 rankings. Olin College is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Needham.
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The #13 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Rice University. Located in the city of Houston, Rice is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
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The #14 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Dartmouth College. Located in the remote town of Hanover, Dartmouth is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
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United States Military Academy earned the #14 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the town of West Point, West Point is a public school with a small student population.
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The #15 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Brown University. Brown is a large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Providence.
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The #15 spot in this year's ranking belongs to United States Air Force Academy. Located in the fringe town of USAF Academy, USAFA is a public college with a small student population.
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Oakland University landed the #16 spot in our 2021 rankings for highest paid engineering school. Located in the large suburb of Rochester Hills, Oakland is a public school with a large student population.
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Our rankings recognize Duke University as the #17 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of Durham, Duke is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.
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Lawrence Technological University landed the #18 spot in our 2021 rankings for highest paid engineering school. Lawrence Tech is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Southfield.
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Cornell University landed the #19 spot in our 2021 rankings for highest paid engineering school. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit college with a very large student population.
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Remaining Award Winners
This list shows the remainder of the colleges awarded a Highest Paid Engineering Graduates badge. Showing in this list means the school was ranked in the top 15% of the 343 different United States engineering schools we analyzed.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | Michigan Technological University | Houghton, MI |
Additional Noteworthy Schools
Here are some additional great schools for Engineering students seeking high pay that almost earned our Highest Paid Engineering Graduates award.
| Rank | College | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 52 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Troy, NY |
| 53 | Montana Tech of the University of Montana | Butte, MT |
| 54 | Purdue University - Main Campus | West Lafayette, IN |
| 55 | University of Tulsa | Tulsa, OK |
| 56 | Liberty University | Lynchburg, VA |
| 57 | Stevens Institute of Technology | Hoboken, NJ |
| 58 | Brigham Young University - Provo | Provo, UT |
| 59 | University of Dayton | Dayton, OH |
| 60 | University of Wisconsin - Madison | Madison, WI |
| 61 | Ohio State University - Main Campus | Columbus, OH |
| 62 | University of San Diego | San Diego, CA |
| 63 | Arizona State University - Polytechnic | Mesa, AZ |
| 64 | University of St Thomas Minnesota | Saint Paul, MN |
| 65 | Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD |
| 66 | Grand Valley State University | Allendale, MI |
| 67 | University of Maryland - College Park | College Park, MD |
| 68 | Prairie View A & M University | Prairie View, TX |
Engineering by Region
View the Highest Paid Engineering Graduates for a specific region near you.
| Region |
|---|
| Southeast |
| New England |
| Rocky Mountains |
| Plains States |
| Middle Atlantic |
| Far Western US |
| Southwest |
| Great Lakes |
More Engineering Rankings
Engineering Related Rankings by Major
Engineering Majors to Study
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 37,343 |
| Electrical Engineering | 17,946 |
| Civil Engineering | 14,832 |
| Chemical Engineering | 11,423 |
| Computer Engineering | 10,704 |
View All Engineering Related Majors >
Most Popular Related Majors
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Biological & Biomedical Sciences | 126,493 |
| Computer & Information Sciences | 92,596 |
| Physical Sciences | 32,633 |
| Mathematics & Statistics | 30,991 |
| Agriculture & Agriculture Operations | 21,156 |
View All Engineering Related Majors >
Notes and References
- 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 the rest of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Petty Officer 3rd Class Declan Barnes.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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