Best Civil Engineering Degrees in the US by ROI

Top colleges ranked by estimated 20-year net return on investment across all active states. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

Programs Analyzed

Colleges with salary data

Average 20-Yr Net ROI

+$665,699

Across all programs

Average Annual Cost

$39,800

Cost of attendance

#	College	State	20-Yr Net ROI	Median Salary	Annual Cost	Avg Debt
1	Manhattan University Grad rate: 69.1%	NY	+$1,011,206	$98,814	$62,537	N/A	Full ROI →
2	California State University-Sacramento Grad rate: 55.1%	CA	+$924,712	$90,507	$22,714	N/A	Full ROI →
3	San Jose State University Grad rate: 66.2%	CA	+$906,250	$89,882	$25,695	N/A	Full ROI →
4	University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus Grad rate: 45.6%	CO	+$889,122	$88,793	$23,369	N/A	Full ROI →
5	Wayne State University Grad rate: 58.3%	MI	+$881,912	$88,775	$26,794	N/A	Full ROI →
6	University of Idaho Grad rate: 61.0%	ID	+$878,722	$88,203	$22,669	N/A	Full ROI →
7	University of Southern California Grad rate: 92.2%	CA	+$877,244	$94,330	$84,678	N/A	Full ROI →
8	George Mason University Grad rate: 69.9%	VA	+$865,836	$87,989	$26,972	N/A	Full ROI →
9	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Grad rate: 66.5%	CA	+$842,256	$86,380	$22,672	N/A	Full ROI →
10	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Grad rate: 84.6%	NC	+$837,954	$86,459	$25,613	N/A	Full ROI →
11	Stanford University Grad rate: 94.0%	CA	+$828,856	$91,659	$82,162	N/A	Full ROI →
12	The University of Texas at Arlington Grad rate: 55.1%	TX	+$817,330	$85,393	$25,265	N/A	Full ROI →
13	University of California-Berkeley Grad rate: 93.5%	CA	+$810,864	$86,814	$42,708	N/A	Full ROI →
14	California State University-Los Angeles Grad rate: 52.0%	CA	+$783,774	$82,904	$17,153	N/A	Full ROI →
15	University of California-San Diego Grad rate: 87.7%	CA	+$774,590	$84,362	$36,325	N/A	Full ROI →
16	The University of Alabama Grad rate: 73.2%	AL	+$766,752	$83,540	$32,024	N/A	Full ROI →
17	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo Grad rate: 85.3%	CA	+$758,324	$82,908	$29,918	N/A	Full ROI →
18	Columbia University in the City of New York Grad rate: 95.1%	NY	+$748,236	$88,016	$86,042	N/A	Full ROI →
19	University of California-Davis Grad rate: 85.7%	CA	+$740,466	$82,830	$38,067	N/A	Full ROI →
20	New Jersey Institute of Technology Grad rate: 73.4%	NJ	+$708,844	$80,665	$32,228	N/A	Full ROI →
21	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Grad rate: 84.8%	IL	+$706,172	$80,522	$32,134	N/A	Full ROI →
22	New York University Grad rate: 87.8%	NY	+$703,358	$85,080	$79,121	N/A	Full ROI →
23	University of Connecticut-Waterbury Campus Grad rate: 59.7%	CT	+$695,706	$78,877	$20,917	N/A	Full ROI →
24	University of Florida Grad rate: 90.7%	FL	+$695,062	$78,925	$21,719	N/A	Full ROI →
25	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Grad rate: 84.0%	WA	+$694,976	$79,777	$30,282	N/A	Full ROI →
26	University of Connecticut-Avery Point Grad rate: 57.8%	CT	+$694,334	$78,877	$21,603	N/A	Full ROI →
27	Norwich University Grad rate: 61.1%	VT	+$693,704	$83,195	$65,098	N/A	Full ROI →
28	Santa Clara University Grad rate: 88.5%	CA	+$689,584	$84,256	$77,768	N/A	Full ROI →
29	Northeastern University Grad rate: 90.8%	MA	+$688,754	$84,573	$81,353	N/A	Full ROI →
30	University of Connecticut-Hartford Campus Grad rate: 63.9%	CT	+$687,478	$78,877	$25,031	N/A	Full ROI →
31	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Grad rate: 95.5%	MA	+$685,420	$84,256	$79,850	N/A	Full ROI →
32	University of Connecticut-Stamford Grad rate: 59.5%	CT	+$682,066	$78,877	$27,737	N/A	Full ROI →
33	Texas A&M University-College Station Grad rate: 83.7%	TX	+$667,850	$78,601	$32,085	N/A	Full ROI →
34	University of Nevada-Reno Grad rate: 62.1%	NV	+$665,176	$77,729	$24,702	N/A	Full ROI →
35	Brigham Young University Grad rate: 80.4%	UT	+$664,702	$77,323	$20,879	N/A	Full ROI →
36	University of Connecticut Grad rate: 83.5%	CT	+$664,396	$78,877	$36,572	N/A	Full ROI →
37	California State University-Fullerton Grad rate: 69.3%	CA	+$657,666	$76,560	$16,767	N/A	Full ROI →
38	Carnegie Mellon University Grad rate: 92.0%	PA	+$648,092	$82,456	$80,514	N/A	Full ROI →
39	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Grad rate: 86.3%	VA	+$647,820	$77,595	$32,040	N/A	Full ROI →
40	The University of Texas at Austin Grad rate: 87.7%	TX	+$644,636	$77,216	$29,842	N/A	Full ROI →
41	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Grad rate: 92.4%	GA	+$635,206	$76,540	$27,797	N/A	Full ROI →
42	University of California-Los Angeles Grad rate: 92.6%	CA	+$631,174	$77,223	$36,643	N/A	Full ROI →
43	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Grad rate: 93.2%	MI	+$631,030	$76,886	$33,345	N/A	Full ROI →
44	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Grad rate: 73.0%	TN	+$629,304	$76,731	$32,658	N/A	Full ROI →
45	Colorado State University-Fort Collins Grad rate: 66.8%	CO	+$628,888	$76,414	$29,696	N/A	Full ROI →
46	Cornell University Grad rate: 95.2%	NY	+$624,108	$81,525	$83,196	N/A	Full ROI →
47	University at Buffalo Grad rate: 73.5%	NY	+$603,854	$75,097	$29,043	N/A	Full ROI →
48	Missouri University of Science and Technology Grad rate: 62.6%	MO	+$601,234	$74,627	$25,653	N/A	Full ROI →
49	University of South Florida Grad rate: 74.4%	FL	+$599,138	$74,187	$22,301	N/A	Full ROI →
50	Portland State University Grad rate: 52.9%	OR	+$591,182	$73,804	$22,449	N/A	Full ROI →

How ROI is calculated

20-Year Net ROI = Gross Earnings (salary × 20) − Total Degree Cost − Debt Payoff (×1.35) − Baseline Opportunity Cost ($42,000 × 20). Data from the U.S. College Scorecard.

Find Best Civil Engineering Degrees by State

Browse Civil Engineering programs ranked by 20-year ROI in every state that offers this degree.