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.

Compiled by PlainCollege , College outcomes data analysis

$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.

University of Southern C…

$125,514
University of Colorado B…

$116,350
University of California…

$115,706
University of Michigan-A…

$115,075
Massachusetts Institute …

$114,620
University of Washington…

$111,349
Illinois Institute of Te…

$110,956
California Polytechnic S…

$107,498
Virginia Polytechnic Ins…

$106,633
California State Polytec…

$106,171
Case Western Reserve Uni…

$106,134
Worcester Polytechnic In…

$105,171
The University of Texas at

$104,422
University of Notre Dame

$103,022
Auburn University

$102,756

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

The full top 58

#	School Name	State	Median Earnings	Median Debt	Completers
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.