---
title: Is an Engineering, Other degree worth the debt?
cip: 1499
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 Engineering, Other degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **18** colleges (18 of 18 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $61,890 ($64,493 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $22,174 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.35× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $57,902–$67,450 — 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 | $61,890 | $22,174 | 0.35× | 18 | 18/18 |
| Master's | $97,752 | $40,197 | 0.45× | 10 | 10/10 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MA) | $72,995 | $26,000 |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus (OH) | $71,065 | $21,750 |
| Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ) | $69,150 | — |
| California State University-Chico (CA) | $68,803 | $22,500 |
| University of Maryland-College Park (MD) | $68,270 | $18,458 |
| Louisiana Tech University (LA) | $64,992 | — |
| Oregon State University (OR) | $63,172 | $28,067 |
| Oregon State University-Cascades Campus (OR) | $63,172 | $28,067 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $61,978 | $25,500 |
| Purdue University-Main Campus (IN) | $61,803 | $19,787 |
| Mississippi State University (MS) | $61,549 | $18,947 |
| Colorado State University Pueblo (CO) | $59,886 | $28,000 |
| Oregon Institute of Technology (OR) | $58,210 | — |
| Michigan State University (MI) | $57,800 | $21,848 |
| Indiana University-Indianapolis (IN) | $56,423 | $25,492 |

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