---
title: Is an Engineering-Related Fields degree worth the debt?
cip: 1515
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-Related Fields degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **30** colleges (30 of 30 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $62,086 ($63,005 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $24,777 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.41× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $57,918–$65,729 — 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 | $62,086 | $24,777 | 0.41× | 30 | 30/30 |
| Master's | $90,994 | $26,760 | 0.31× | 33 | 33/33 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Stanford University (CA) | $77,180 | — |
| Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ) | $70,084 | $26,975 |
| Michigan State University (MI) | $66,715 | $23,375 |
| Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) | $66,620 | $27,000 |
| Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO) | $66,527 | $27,000 |
| Illinois Institute of Technology (IL) | $66,324 | — |
| Morehead State University (KY) | $66,090 | — |
| Arizona State University Campus Immersion (AZ) | $65,729 | $28,125 |
| Arizona State University Digital Immersion (AZ) | $65,729 | $28,125 |
| University of Wisconsin-Stout (WI) | $65,720 | $27,000 |
| Clarkson University (NY) | $65,187 | $27,000 |
| Clemson University (SC) | $65,136 | $22,622 |
| University of Arizona (AZ) | $63,737 | $24,777 |
| Miami University-Oxford (OH) | $62,902 | $26,800 |
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VA) | $62,198 | $23,750 |

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