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Program ranking · CIP 14.09 bachelor's · College Scorecard · Mar-Jul 2026 retrievals

Best Colleges for Computer 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 Computer Engineering (CIP 14.09) 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.

$228,705
Highest computer engineering earnings
100
Colleges ranked
$97,547
#100 cutoff

The list in one line

Every college on this list reports at least $97,547 median earnings for Computer Engineering bachelor's (CIP 14.09) completers. University of California-Los Angeles leads at $228,705.

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

$228,705
#1 - University of California-Los
$97,547
#100 - the cutoff to make this list
25+
completers required per school
363
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 computer engineering programs by median completer earnings

Computer Engineering bachelor's (CIP 14.09) · higher is higher early-career pay

median earnings

What this shows Computer-engineering medians mix hardware, embedded, and systems roles - debt still matters when chip-cycle hiring swings pay bands.

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

The full top 100

# School Name StateMedian EarningsMedian DebtCompleters
1 University of California-Los Angeles CA $228,705 $13,500 96
2 Duke University NC $174,522 $14,500 134
3 University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA $169,570 $15,422 49
4 University of Southern California CA $166,369 $6,625 45
5 Santa Clara University CA $163,765 $24,833 83
6 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign IL $159,855 $20,500 318
7 Bucknell University PA $156,885 - 32
8 University of Maryland-College Park MD $152,422 $20,417 117
9 University of California-San Diego CA $149,139 $18,414 167
10 California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo CA $148,950 $20,556 158
11 University of Virginia-Main Campus VA $148,175 $16,875 51
12 University of California-Davis CA $145,422 $12,703 119
13 University of California-Santa Barbara CA $144,703 $14,410 72
14 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI $142,071 $19,500 116
15 Northeastern University MA $135,416 $25,002 114
16 Boston University MA $135,394 $25,984 122
17 Brigham Young University UT $133,111 $11,000 97
18 University of California-Irvine CA $132,357 $19,000 246
19 Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA $128,497 $20,000 157
20 University of Florida FL $128,140 $20,447 118
21 Stony Brook University NY $128,038 $19,750 56
22 New York University NY $127,201 $19,000 38
23 Texas A&M University-College Station TX $127,042 $21,750 192
24 University of New Mexico-Main Campus NM $126,356 - 28
25 University of California-Santa Cruz CA $124,641 $23,434 132
26 Stevens Institute of Technology NJ $124,037 $26,930 111
27 Ohio State University-Main Campus OH $123,731 $19,500 404
28 Rochester Institute of Technology NY $123,027 $28,000 149
29 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA $122,026 $25,929 184
30 Utah Valley University UT $121,466 $13,421 38
31 Purdue University-Main Campus IN $121,462 $22,875 297
32 Kettering University MI $120,531 $29,984 35
33 University of Wisconsin-Madison WI $120,068 - 115
34 University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN $119,781 $22,350 61
35 Villanova University PA $119,137 $26,000 41
36 George Mason University VA $117,942 $25,500 32
37 Binghamton University NY $117,721 $19,000 51
38 Drexel University PA $117,537 $27,000 80
39 CUNY City College NY $117,131 - 54
40 San Diego State University CA $116,842 $17,249 116
41 University of Connecticut CT $115,117 $20,134 84
42 Illinois Institute of Technology IL $114,930 $26,000 25
43 Florida State University FL $114,802 $23,250 34
44 Washington State University WA $114,635 $19,902 46
45 University of Utah UT $114,197 $18,970 28
46 University of Maryland-Baltimore County MD $113,299 $19,744 48
47 University of Massachusetts-Amherst MA $113,083 $27,000 57
48 The University of Texas at Dallas TX $112,666 $21,375 200
49 Arizona State University Digital Immersion AZ $112,543 $25,000 132
50 Arizona State University Campus Immersion AZ $112,543 $25,000 115
51 Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA $112,269 $26,471 81
52 Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College PA $112,269 $26,471 41
53 University of Michigan-Dearborn MI $111,740 $21,064 36
54 Auburn University AL $110,927 $20,000 112
55 University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus PA $110,417 $26,489 99
56 North Carolina State University at Raleigh NC $110,416 $22,681 136
57 University at Buffalo NY $109,221 $20,500 33
58 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology IN $109,164 $24,834 61
59 University of North Texas TX $109,151 $22,590 30
60 University of South Carolina-Columbia SC $109,116 $25,675 40
61 University of South Florida FL $109,054 $23,172 52
62 Clarkson University NY $107,790 $27,000 28
63 University of Houston TX $107,283 $21,582 30
64 University of California-Riverside CA $107,193 $25,083 48
65 Saint Cloud State University MN $107,133 $24,215 30
66 University of Central Florida FL $106,680 $18,750 192
67 Florida Institute of Technology FL $106,431 $24,625 41
68 University of Alabama in Huntsville AL $105,920 $21,500 71
69 The University of Texas at Arlington TX $105,871 $19,083 103
70 Iowa State University IA $105,753 $23,750 295
71 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach FL $105,527 $26,293 31
72 University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus OK $105,525 $22,383 40
73 Michigan State University MI $104,627 $23,000 56
74 California State University-Sacramento CA $104,394 $17,500 60
75 University of Nebraska-Lincoln NE $103,934 $20,240 83
76 California State University-Fresno CA $103,896 $24,000 30
77 Milwaukee School of Engineering WI $103,360 $27,000 73
78 Kennesaw State University GA $103,054 $23,250 116
79 Clemson University SC $102,762 $26,179 48
80 University of Illinois Chicago IL $102,691 $19,250 72
81 University of California-Merced CA $102,575 $19,003 219
82 University of Cincinnati-Main Campus OH $102,273 $20,700 59
83 California State University-Fullerton CA $101,408 $16,500 60
84 Oklahoma State University-Main Campus OK $101,279 $22,125 27
85 Florida International University FL $101,224 $18,124 121
86 California State University-Northridge CA $101,021 $18,346 35
87 California State Polytechnic University-Pomona CA $100,673 $20,000 97
88 University of Kentucky KY $99,945 $21,500 54
89 New Jersey Institute of Technology NJ $99,880 $19,959 45
90 University of Georgia GA $99,739 $17,278 31
91 Missouri University of Science and Technology MO $99,620 $27,000 71
92 Wentworth Institute of Technology MA $99,093 $27,000 34
93 West Virginia University WV $99,048 $23,000 41
94 University of Arkansas AR $99,031 $25,957 25
95 California State University-Long Beach CA $98,967 $17,129 55
96 Florida Gulf Coast University FL $98,650 $21,500 68
97 North Carolina A & T State University NC $98,567 $28,020 25
98 Wright State University-Main Campus OH $97,659 $17,778 29
99 Marquette University WI $97,608 $24,767 30
100 University of Massachusetts-Lowell MA $97,547 $26,277 66

About This Ranking

Schools are ranked by College Scorecard field-of-study median earnings for Computer Engineering (CIP 14.09) 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 Computer 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 Computer Engineering (CIP 14.09) bachelor's programs - computer science (CIP 11.07) and electrical engineering (CIP 14.10) are ranked on their own pages.

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.