Free tool · federal data
What does this major pay at different colleges?
Pick a major, a degree level and a state. You get what graduates of each college's program earned four years after graduating and what they borrowed in federal loans, from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, with the national median for the same program as the yardstick.
Your results
Mechanical Engineering, master's programs nationwide
Nationally, master's graduates in Mechanical Engineering earn a median $115,974 four years after graduating. Among 36 programs with federal earnings data, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA) graduates had the highest median, $200,732 (2017-19 graduates, measured 2022-23, College Scorecard).
- Programs with data
- 36
- Highest median
- $200,732
- National median
- $115,974
| College | State | Median earnings, 4 yrs after | vs national median | Debt borrowed at this college (median) | Add to the side-by-side comparison |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | $200,732 | +73% | $45,290 | |
| Stanford University | CA | $167,632 | +45% | $41,000 | Compare |
| University of Southern California | CA | $139,101 | +20% | — | Compare |
| University of New Mexico-Main CampusFigure covers 5 campuses | NM | $138,833 | +20% | — | |
| University of California, Los Angeles | CA | $138,803 | +20% | $20,500 | |
| Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | $133,021 | +15% | — | |
| Johns Hopkins University | MD | $132,861 | +15% | — | |
| University of Washington-Seattle CampusFigure covers 3 campuses | WA | $132,097 | +14% | $32,207 | |
| Oakland University | MI | $130,141 | +12% | — | |
| Cornell UniversityFigure covers 2 campuses | NY | $128,130 | +10% | $21,805 | |
| Carnegie Mellon University | PA | $127,603 | +10% | $34,193 | Compare |
| Ohio State University-Main CampusFigure covers 6 campuses | OH | $126,887 | +9% | — | |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | $123,205 | +6% | $20,500 | |
| Drexel UniversityFigure covers 2 campuses | PA | $121,560 | +5% | — | |
| University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | $120,648 | +4% | $33,325 | |
| University of Michigan-Dearborn | MI | $119,691 | +3% | — | |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | MA | $117,441 | about the same | — | |
| University of Massachusetts Lowell | MA | $117,288 | about the same | — | |
| Boston University | MA | $117,154 | about the same | $57,930 | |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh | NC | $115,376 | about the same | $28,624 | |
| Colorado School of Mines | CO | $115,085 | about the same | $30,500 | |
| Washington University in St Louis | MO | $115,029 | about the same | — | |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | WI | $113,710 | about the same | — | |
| University of Cincinnati-Main CampusFigure covers 3 campuses | OH | $112,569 | −3% | — | |
| University of Minnesota Twin CitiesFigure covers 2 campuses | MN | $112,217 | −3% | $28,000 |
The 25 highest of 36 programs. Ordered by median earnings four years after graduating: one federal measure, not a ranking of program quality.
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Same major, other degree levels: Bachelor's
What these numbers are
Earnings: graduates of 2017-18 and 2018-19, earnings measured in 2022 and 2023, in 2024 dollars. Only programs with at least 30 graduates in the earnings cohort are listed, and a multi-state system whose figure pools campuses in several states is left out of state lists. Median earnings of graduates who received federal student aid, worked, and were not enrolled in school; debt is the median federal loans borrowed at this college by graduates who borrowed (Direct Subsidized, Unsubsidized and Grad PLUS; not Parent PLUS, private loans or interest). Programs with too few graduates are suppressed by the Department of Education. Federal program group: Mechanical Engineering. Earnings reflect who enrolls and where graduates work as well as the program itself.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field-of-study data, 10 June 2026. Download every program (CSV).