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Program ranking · CIP 14.02 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Aerospace Engineering

Using U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data retrieved March-July 2026, these colleges rank highest on median earnings for Aerospace Engineering (CIP 14.02) bachelor's completers. Rankings use earnings only - not prestige, selectivity, or editorial judgment - and require at least 25 completers so tiny suppressed cohorts do not dominate the list.

$125,514
Highest aerospace engineering earnings
58
Colleges ranked
$83,057
#58 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $83,057 median earnings for Aerospace Engineering bachelor's (CIP 14.02) completers. University of Southern California leads at $125,514.

According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.

$125,514
#1 - University of Southern
$83,057
#58 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
74
US schools offering this CIP

Earnings are field-of-study medians for federally aided completers who were working and not enrolled; see methodology for horizon and lag details.

Top 15 aerospace engineering programs by median completer earnings

Aerospace Engineering bachelor's (CIP 14.02) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Aerospace medians concentrate in defense, airframe, and propulsion employers - debt still matters when cohort sizes stay small outside flagship programs.

Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard Field of Study As of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

The full top 58

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 University of Southern California CA $125,514 $20,030 49
2 University of Colorado Boulder CO $116,350 $24,500 199
3 University of California-Los Angeles CA $115,706 $19,000 63
4 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $115,075 $21,125 164
5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA $114,620 $17,724 59
6 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $111,349 $12,410 68
7 Illinois Institute of Technology IL $110,956 $27,000 28
8 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $107,498 $22,500 106
9 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA $106,633 $25,833 198
10 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona CA $106,171 $25,750 163
11 Case Western Reserve University OH $106,134 $26,061 46
12 Worcester Polytechnic Institute MA $105,171 $27,000 64
13 The University of Texas at Austin TX $104,422 $22,125 97
14 University of Notre Dame IN $103,022 $19,000 25
15 Auburn University AL $102,756 $20,417 77
16 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA $102,415 $22,000 215
17 California State University-Long Beach CA $101,797 $25,775 97
18 University of California-Irvine CA $100,537 $18,400 96
19 University of California-San Diego CA $100,173 $20,008 83
20 San Diego State University CA $100,139 $23,417 70
21 The University of Texas at Arlington TX $99,239 $25,130 51
22 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $99,159 $26,969 112
23 University of Maryland-College Park MD $98,044 $21,083 140
24 Purdue University-Main Campus IN $97,332 $21,500 298
25 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $97,276 $23,888 120
26 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $97,227 $21,999 186
27 Florida Institute of Technology FL $97,015 $24,976 90
28 University of Central Florida FL $96,972 $24,750 204
29 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $96,946 $25,390 114
30 New Mexico State University-Main Campus NM $96,510 $24,262 68
31 Missouri University of Science and Technology MO $96,090 $22,000 76
32 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach FL $95,552 $26,312 242
33 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott AZ $95,552 $26,312 125
34 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide FL $95,552 $26,312 39
35 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NY $94,750 $24,861 112
36 West Virginia University WV $94,750 $27,242 79
37 Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ $94,598 $26,325 40
38 University of Florida FL $94,375 $17,416 123
39 Western Michigan University MI $94,177 $27,000 41
40 Iowa State University IA $94,089 $26,017 158
41 University of California-Davis CA $93,414 $18,748 68
42 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $92,999 $25,360 75
43 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $92,422 $23,083 74
44 University at Buffalo NY $92,360 $23,000 107
45 University of Kansas KS $92,335 $25,000 42
46 The University of Alabama AL $91,999 $26,787 86
47 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus OK $91,249 $19,500 118
48 Clarkson University NY $91,066 $27,000 41
49 Syracuse University NY $90,470 $27,000 43
50 North Carolina State University at Raleigh NC $89,932 $20,750 64
51 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus OK $89,714 $23,500 37
52 The University of Tennessee-Knoxville TN $89,015 $25,000 54
53 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus OH $88,511 $20,750 60
54 Mississippi State University MS $88,444 $17,500 82
55 University of Alabama in Huntsville AL $87,339 $23,250 121
56 University of Arizona AZ $86,529 $23,000 45
57 University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $85,681 $14,000 47
58 Wichita State University KS $83,057 $20,500 67

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Aerospace Engineering (CIP 14.02) bachelor's completers. Only operating schools with at least 25 completers and a published median are included. Ties break toward larger completer cohorts. For the full program profile - including every reporting school and national distribution - see Aerospace Engineering (bachelor's). Methodology lives on our methodology page.

Caveats and limitations

"Best" here means highest reported median earnings for the stated CIP scope - not teaching quality, licensure pass rates, clinical placement strength, or fit for any one student. This list covers Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering (CIP 14.02) bachelor's programs - mechanical (CIP 14.19) and biomedical engineering (CIP 14.05) are ranked separately.

Figures cover federally aided completers only, use Treasury-linked earnings, and describe a lagged cohort. Regional pay scales and graduate-school paths both move the median without proving a causal school effect.

This ranking is for informational purposes only and does not constitute academic or career advice. Earnings do not predict any individual graduate's outcome.

Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from College Scorecard field-of-study data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals.