---
title: Is an Architectural Engineering degree worth the debt?
cip: 1404
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 Architectural Engineering degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **11** colleges (11 of 11 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $64,188 ($65,898 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $25,931 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.39× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $62,622–$67,772 — 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 | $64,188 | $25,931 | 0.39× | 11 | 11/11 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Auburn University (AL) | $71,073 | $21,375 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $69,509 | $25,000 |
| Kansas State University (KS) | $68,390 | $26,726 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $67,154 | $31,000 |
| Milwaukee School of Engineering (WI) | $64,727 | — |
| The University of Texas at Austin (TX) | $64,188 | $25,136 |
| University of Colorado Boulder (CO) | $63,737 | $14,500 |
| Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO) | $62,662 | $27,000 |
| Drexel University (PA) | $62,581 | $31,000 |
| University of Kansas (KS) | $62,052 | $23,000 |
| North Carolina A & T State University (NC) | $59,103 | $28,608 |

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/architectural-engineering.jsonld` · `/education/fields/architectural-engineering.json`