---
title: Is an Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering degree worth the debt?
cip: 1402
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release)
sourceId: src:doe:college-scorecard:field-of-study:2026-06-10
---

# Is an Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **58** colleges (58 of 58 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $65,118 ($64,824 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $23,500 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.36× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $62,680–$67,119 — the program you choose moves the number this much.


**How to read this:** these are MEDIANS across college programs, measured **1–2 years after completion** (early career, graduates only) — NOT lifetime earnings, and NOT comparable to a college's 10-years-after-entry figure. They cover **federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report**; small programs are suppressed. A field median is not a prediction of your outcome, not causal (who enters a field differs by field), and **not a "best majors" ranking** — earnings are one dimension of worth. Verify by field at the official College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/).

## By degree level

| Level | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt | Debt/pay | Colleges | Programs reporting |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bachelor's | $65,118 | $23,500 | 0.36× | 58 | 58/58 |
| Master's | $86,822 | $34,526 | 0.36× | 18 | 18/18 |

## Where an Bachelor's in this field reports the highest early-career pay

Reflects who enrolls and where, not causal program quality.

| College | Pay (1yr) | Federal debt |
| --- | --- | --- |
| University of Southern California (CA) | $78,078 | $20,030 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $74,220 | $22,500 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA) | $72,563 | $17,724 |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute (MA) | $72,303 | $27,000 |
| University of Colorado Boulder (CO) | $71,135 | $24,500 |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona (CA) | $70,663 | $25,750 |
| Saint Louis University (MO) | $69,962 | $26,421 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $68,716 | $26,969 |
| University of Notre Dame (IN) | $68,525 | $19,000 |
| University of Virginia-Main Campus (VA) | $68,493 | $14,000 |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus (GA) | $67,907 | $22,000 |
| University of Cincinnati-Main Campus (OH) | $67,848 | $20,750 |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (MI) | $67,815 | $21,125 |
| Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO) | $67,444 | $22,000 |
| Case Western Reserve University (OH) | $67,172 | $26,061 |

RECORDED College Scorecard figures + one DERIVED ratio (debt-to-earnings). Informs and compares; not advice on what to major in. Each college's full record: `/education/<slug>`.

Structured data: `/education/fields/aerospace-aeronautical-and-astronautical-space-engineering.jsonld` · `/education/fields/aerospace-aeronautical-and-astronautical-space-engineering.json`