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

Is a Biomedical/Medical Engineering degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 102 colleges (102 of 102 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$55,042

Graduates only, early career.$58,866 two years out.

Median federal debt

$21,500

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.41×

41% 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 Biomedical/Medical Engineering report early-career pay between $47,762 and $62,176 — a spread of $14,414 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $47,762 median $55,042 75th pct $62,176

By degree level

Each level is a separate decision — more schooling usually means more pay and more debt.

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 102 colleges $55,042 $21,500 0.41×

Master's 31 colleges $73,107 $41,000 0.55×

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

The 15 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.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $74,716 $16,850 debt

University of Pennsylvania PA $72,773 $15,593 debt

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $72,746 $20,500 debt

George Washington University DC $69,299 $23,000 debt

The University of Texas at Austin TX $69,298 $21,071 debt

Washington University in St Louis MO $68,716 $21,000 debt

Texas A&M University-College Station TX $68,154 $19,000 debt

Duke University NC $67,573 $13,894 debt

Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA $67,345 $21,375 debt

Marquette University WI $66,407 $26,975 debt

Rochester Institute of Technology NY $66,107 $28,308 debt

California State University-Long Beach CA $65,701 $15,500 debt

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology IN $65,537 $26,441 debt

Wentworth Institute of Technology MA $63,963 $27,000 debt

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NY $63,784 $26,000 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Biomedical/Medical 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