---
title: Is a Petroleum Engineering degree worth the debt?
cip: 1425
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 Petroleum Engineering degree worth the debt?

Leading with the **Bachelor's**, across **20** colleges (20 of 20 programs report earnings):

- **Median pay, 1 year after completion:** $79,614 ($73,949 at 2 years)
- **Median federal debt:** $24,211 (federal loans only)
- **Debt-to-earnings:** 0.30× a first year's pay
- **Across-college spread (middle 50%):** $74,136–$86,121 — 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 | $79,614 | $24,211 | 0.30× | 20 | 20/20 |

## 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Montana Technological University (MT) | $94,544 | $27,000 |
| Colorado School of Mines (CO) | $94,022 | $26,500 |
| Texas Tech University (TX) | $89,229 | $24,850 |
| The University of Texas Permian Basin (TX) | $88,833 | — |
| The University of Texas at Austin (TX) | $87,293 | $17,239 |
| University of Tulsa (OK) | $85,730 | $26,950 |
| Texas A&M University-College Station (TX) | $84,377 | $18,969 |
| University of North Dakota (ND) | $84,111 | $27,000 |
| Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus (PA) | $80,718 | $22,837 |
| Missouri University of Science and Technology (MO) | $80,601 | $27,750 |
| University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus (OK) | $78,626 | $23,000 |
| University of Wyoming (WY) | $77,157 | $24,188 |
| Marietta College (OH) | $76,751 | $27,000 |
| Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College (LA) | $75,560 | $24,211 |
| West Virginia University (WV) | $74,468 | $26,000 |

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