Best Mechanical 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

+$911,611

Across all programs

Average Annual Cost

$46,895

Cost of attendance

#	College	State	20-Yr Net ROI	Median Salary	Annual Cost	Avg Debt
1	Stanford University Grad rate: 94.0%	CA	+$1,519,376	$126,185	$82,162	N/A	Full ROI →
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Grad rate: 95.5%	MA	+$1,248,380	$112,404	$79,850	N/A	Full ROI →
3	Purdue University-Main Campus Grad rate: 83.1%	IN	+$1,203,026	$104,408	$22,567	N/A	Full ROI →
4	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville Grad rate: 73.0%	TN	+$1,188,424	$104,687	$32,658	N/A	Full ROI →
5	University of Utah Grad rate: 64.2%	UT	+$1,183,182	$103,339	$21,799	N/A	Full ROI →
6	Oakland University Grad rate: 57.3%	MI	+$1,158,548	$102,429	$25,016	N/A	Full ROI →
7	University of California-Berkeley Grad rate: 93.5%	CA	+$1,149,344	$103,738	$42,708	N/A	Full ROI →
8	Ohio State University-Main Campus Grad rate: 87.9%	OH	+$1,115,100	$100,687	$29,320	N/A	Full ROI →
9	University of California-Los Angeles Grad rate: 92.6%	CA	+$1,083,414	$99,835	$36,643	N/A	Full ROI →
10	Iowa State University Grad rate: 75.0%	IA	+$1,015,002	$95,081	$23,309	N/A	Full ROI →
11	University of California-Irvine Grad rate: 86.3%	CA	+$1,000,838	$95,654	$36,121	N/A	Full ROI →
12	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Grad rate: 93.2%	MI	+$987,370	$94,703	$33,345	N/A	Full ROI →
13	Boston University Grad rate: 89.5%	MA	+$987,332	$99,636	$82,694	N/A	Full ROI →
14	University of Wisconsin-Madison Grad rate: 89.3%	WI	+$986,320	$94,093	$27,770	N/A	Full ROI →
15	Brigham Young University Grad rate: 80.4%	UT	+$982,642	$93,220	$20,879	N/A	Full ROI →
16	Johns Hopkins University Grad rate: 94.3%	MD	+$973,960	$98,828	$81,300	N/A	Full ROI →
17	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Grad rate: 71.8%	OH	+$972,234	$93,490	$28,783	N/A	Full ROI →
18	University of California-Davis Grad rate: 85.7%	CA	+$964,506	$94,032	$38,067	N/A	Full ROI →
19	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Grad rate: 84.6%	NC	+$960,414	$92,582	$25,613	N/A	Full ROI →
20	Texas A&M University-College Station Grad rate: 83.7%	TX	+$954,050	$92,911	$32,085	N/A	Full ROI →
21	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Grad rate: 53.7%	OR	+$953,558	$92,424	$27,461	N/A	Full ROI →
22	University of Southern California Grad rate: 92.2%	CA	+$950,964	$98,016	$84,678	N/A	Full ROI →
23	Oregon State University Grad rate: 70.3%	OR	+$948,628	$92,424	$29,926	N/A	Full ROI →
24	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Grad rate: 84.8%	IL	+$945,692	$92,498	$32,134	N/A	Full ROI →
25	University of Colorado Boulder Grad rate: 74.9%	CO	+$938,508	$92,272	$33,466	N/A	Full ROI →
26	The University of Texas at Arlington Grad rate: 55.1%	TX	+$934,550	$91,254	$25,265	N/A	Full ROI →
27	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Grad rate: 92.4%	GA	+$934,226	$91,491	$27,797	N/A	Full ROI →
28	Santa Clara University Grad rate: 88.5%	CA	+$930,704	$96,312	$77,768	N/A	Full ROI →
29	Northeastern University Grad rate: 90.8%	MA	+$895,794	$94,925	$81,353	N/A	Full ROI →
30	Drexel University Grad rate: 77.6%	PA	+$894,366	$94,235	$75,167	N/A	Full ROI →
31	University of Pennsylvania Grad rate: 96.5%	PA	+$890,424	$95,095	$85,738	N/A	Full ROI →
32	University of Massachusetts-Lowell Grad rate: 70.6%	MA	+$887,718	$89,338	$29,521	N/A	Full ROI →
33	Lehigh University Grad rate: 90.2%	PA	+$880,910	$93,797	$77,515	N/A	Full ROI →
34	Rensselaer at Hartford	CT	+$879,060	$85,953	N/A	N/A	Full ROI →
35	University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus Grad rate: 84.0%	PA	+$872,926	$89,317	$36,707	N/A	Full ROI →
36	Northern Illinois University Grad rate: 51.3%	IL	+$858,272	$87,635	$27,214	N/A	Full ROI →
37	Michigan Technological University Grad rate: 68.2%	MI	+$858,140	$88,162	$32,550	N/A	Full ROI →
38	University of Florida Grad rate: 90.7%	FL	+$849,822	$86,663	$21,719	N/A	Full ROI →
39	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Grad rate: 84.0%	WA	+$844,916	$87,274	$30,282	N/A	Full ROI →
40	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Grad rate: 88.7%	MA	+$842,964	$91,716	$75,678	N/A	Full ROI →
41	University of Louisville Grad rate: 61.4%	KY	+$832,934	$86,731	$30,843	N/A	Full ROI →
42	Cornell University Grad rate: 95.2%	NY	+$831,008	$91,870	$83,196	N/A	Full ROI →
43	California State University-Los Angeles Grad rate: 52.0%	CA	+$791,894	$83,310	$17,153	N/A	Full ROI →
44	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Grad rate: 67.4%	AZ	+$791,886	$84,399	$28,047	N/A	Full ROI →
45	University of St Thomas Grad rate: 77.3%	MN	+$789,212	$87,929	$64,684	N/A	Full ROI →
46	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Grad rate: 86.3%	VA	+$770,160	$83,712	$32,040	N/A	Full ROI →
47	Colorado School of Mines Grad rate: 80.5%	CO	+$768,008	$84,256	$38,556	N/A	Full ROI →
48	Binghamton University Grad rate: 83.2%	NY	+$761,166	$83,024	$29,657	N/A	Full ROI →
49	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Grad rate: 83.5%	NY	+$719,192	$85,953	$79,934	N/A	Full ROI →
50	Stony Brook University Grad rate: 77.8%	NY	+$714,132	$80,624	$29,174	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 Mechanical Engineering Degrees by State

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