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

Is a Computer Engineering degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 185 colleges (185 of 185 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$70,001

Graduates only, early career.$71,234 two years out.

Median federal debt

$23,000

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.34×

34% 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 Computer Engineering report early-career pay between $64,523 and $74,393 — a spread of $9,870 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $64,523 median $70,001 75th pct $74,393

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Associate's 6 colleges $49,653 $19,203 0.39×

Bachelor's 185 colleges $70,001 $23,000 0.34×

Master's 27 colleges $96,204 $35,556 0.41×

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 Washington-Seattle Campus WA $137,584 $15,422 debt

University of Washington-Bothell Campus WA $137,584 $15,422 debt

University of Washington-Tacoma Campus WA $137,584 $15,422 debt

Princeton University NJ $122,809 —

University of California-Los Angeles CA $110,139 $13,500 debt

Duke University NC $108,817 $14,500 debt

University of Southern California CA $106,621 $6,625 debt

Bucknell University PA $94,127 —

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $91,493 $20,556 debt

Boston University MA $90,529 $25,984 debt

Northeastern University MA $88,529 $25,002 debt

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $88,455 $20,500 debt

University of Maryland-College Park MD $88,418 $20,417 debt

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $84,934 $19,500 debt

University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $84,682 $16,875 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Computer 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