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

Is a Mechanical Engineering degree worth the debt?

The figures below lead with the Bachelor's, aggregated across 317 colleges (317 of 317 programs report earnings). Other credential levels are in the table further down.

Median pay · 1 yr after

$65,319

Graduates only, early career.$65,089 two years out.

Median federal debt

$22,800

Federal loans only — not private or Parent PLUS.

Debt vs a year's pay

0.36×

36% 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 Mechanical Engineering report early-career pay between $62,037 and $67,784 — a spread of $5,747 that depends on the program and who attends it, not the major alone.

25th pct $62,037 median $65,319 75th pct $67,784

By degree level

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

LevelPay · 1yrDebtDebt/pay

Bachelor's 317 colleges $65,319 $22,800 0.36×

Master's 84 colleges $81,943 $28,000 0.32×

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.

Cal Poly Maritime Academy CA $83,137 $19,690 debt

Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA $80,396 $11,507 debt

University of Pennsylvania PA $78,166 $12,910 debt

Kettering University MI $76,471 $28,000 debt

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $75,414 $20,500 debt

California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $74,806 $20,500 debt

University of Southern California CA $74,693 $14,250 debt

Santa Clara University CA $74,547 $19,000 debt

University of California-Berkeley CA $73,836 $13,000 debt

Oakland University MI $73,808 $21,500 debt

Prairie View A & M University TX $73,650 $28,812 debt

Purdue University-Main Campus IN $73,563 $19,500 debt

The University of Texas at Austin TX $73,222 $18,500 debt

University of Notre Dame IN $72,690 $18,910 debt

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology IN $72,316 $25,000 debt

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is a median across college programs in Mechanical 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