College Scorecard · field of study · all U.S. colleges

Is an Architectural Engineering degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 11 colleges (11 of 11 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$64,188

Graduates only, early career.$65,898 two years out.

Median federal debt

$25,931

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.39×

39% of a first year's earnings.

Typical debt is well under a single year's early-career pay.

The college you pick moves this a lot

The middle 50% of Bachelor's programs in Architectural Engineering report early-career pay between $62,622 and $67,772 — a spread of $5,150 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $62,622 median $64,188 75th pct $67,772

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

The 11 programs with the highest reported pay one year after completion. This reflects who enrolls and where they live as much as the program itself — it is not a causal quality ranking.

Auburn University AL $71,073 $21,375 debt

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $69,509 $25,000 debt

Kansas State University KS $68,390 $26,726 debt

Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $67,154 $31,000 debt

Milwaukee School of Engineering WI $64,727 —

The University of Texas at Austin TX $64,188 $25,136 debt

University of Colorado Boulder CO $63,737 $14,500 debt

Missouri University of Science and Technology MO $62,662 $27,000 debt

Drexel University PA $62,581 $31,000 debt

University of Kansas KS $62,052 $23,000 debt

North Carolina A & T State University NC $59,103 $28,608 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Architectural Engineering, from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn (your college, effort, and local job market vary enormously — see the spread above), not lifetime earnings (it is measured 1–2 years after completion, early career), not proof the major caused the outcome (who enters a field differs by field — selection, not causation), and not a "best majors" ranking: earnings are one dimension of worth, not the whole of it. Teaching and social work pay far less than the fields at the top of this list and matter enormously. Earnings cover federally-aided completers at programs large enough to report.

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard — Field of Study (2026-06-10 release). · explore this field on the official Scorecard