---
title: Is a Mechanical Engineering degree worth the debt?
cip: 1419
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 a Mechanical Engineering degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **317** colleges (317 of 317 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $65,319 ($65,089 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $22,800 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.36× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $62,037–$67,784 — 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 | $65,319 | $22,800 | 0.36× | 317 | 317/317 |
| Master's | $81,943 | $28,000 | 0.32× | 84 | 84/84 |

## Where a 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cal Poly Maritime Academy (CA) | $83,137 | $19,690 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA) | $80,396 | $11,507 |
| University of Pennsylvania (PA) | $78,166 | $12,910 |
| Kettering University (MI) | $76,471 | $28,000 |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (MI) | $75,414 | $20,500 |
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo (CA) | $74,806 | $20,500 |
| University of Southern California (CA) | $74,693 | $14,250 |
| Santa Clara University (CA) | $74,547 | $19,000 |
| University of California-Berkeley (CA) | $73,836 | $13,000 |
| Oakland University (MI) | $73,808 | $21,500 |
| Prairie View A & M University (TX) | $73,650 | $28,812 |
| Purdue University-Main Campus (IN) | $73,563 | $19,500 |
| The University of Texas at Austin (TX) | $73,222 | $18,500 |
| University of Notre Dame (IN) | $72,690 | $18,910 |
| Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (IN) | $72,316 | $25,000 |

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