Majors

Best Colleges for Industrial Engineering, by Earnings

115 of the colleges we track award a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering, about 5,196 degrees a year. Across the 87 that report earnings, graduates make a median of $95,835 four years after finishing.

Rank	College	State	Median earnings, 4 years out	Degrees a year	Acceptance rate
1	Northwestern University	IL	$138,720	62	7.7%
2	Georgia Institute of Technology	GA	$128,003	346	14.1%
3	Lehigh University	PA	$121,498	40	25.9%
4	University of Michigan	MI	$117,930	138	15.6%
5	Virginia Tech	VA	$116,641	240	54.8%
6	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	CA	$112,797	76	31.3%
7	University of Southern California	CA	$112,150	71	9.8%
8	University of Connecticut	CT	$111,672	42	52.4%
9	Northeastern University	MA	$111,430	66	5.2%
10	University of Wisconsin-Madison	WI	$110,711	99	45.2%
11	University of Washington	WA	$109,575	56	39.1%
12	The University of Tennessee-Knoxville	TN	$107,093	70	41.6%
13	Purdue University	IN	$107,031	269	49.9%
14	Ohio State University	OH	$106,932	149	60.6%
15	Rochester Institute of Technology	NY	$105,313	43	66.9%
16	Pennsylvania State University	PA	$104,758	134	60.6%
17	Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Erie-Behrend College	PA	$104,758	13	96.8%
18	University of Louisville	KY	$104,538	28	79.4%
19	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	IL	$103,143	80	42.4%
20	SUNY Maritime College	NY	$102,563	12	72.4%
21	Arizona State University	AZ	$102,439	61	89.9%
22	Oakland University	MI	$102,222	29	87.8%
23	Wayne State University	MI	$101,990	11	81.2%
24	Oregon State University	OR	$101,653	42	77.3%
25	Oregon State University-Cascades Campus	OR	$101,653	1	63.1%
26	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	MA	$101,554	23	60.2%
27	New Jersey Institute of Technology	NJ	$101,547	27	65.1%
28	University of Missouri	MO	$101,380	33	78.5%
29	North Carolina State University	NC	$100,172	117	41.7%
30	Auburn University	AL	$99,441	86	45.9%
31	Ohio University-Main Campus	OH	$99,364	19	85%
32	West Virginia University	WV	$99,180	70	89%
33	University of Miami	FL	$99,068	34	18.9%
34	University of Arkansas	AR	$98,765	55	74.3%
35	University of Pittsburgh	PA	$98,654	74	58.1%
36	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	NY	$98,509	29	63.5%
37	University of Oklahoma	OK	$98,394	43	76.6%
38	Texas Tech University	TX	$98,266	54	72.7%
39	University of Massachusetts-Amherst	MA	$97,791	20	59.7%
40	The University of Texas at Arlington	TX	$97,788	33	79.9%
41	University of Minnesota-Duluth	MN	$97,732	13	88.8%
42	Florida State University	FL	$96,504	38	24.2%
43	Texas A&M University	TX	$95,918	276	57.4%
44	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	CA	$95,835	41	75.2%
45	Binghamton University	NY	$95,354	58	38.6%
46	University of Iowa	IA	$95,347	33	83.6%
47	University of Alabama in Huntsville	AL	$95,153	45	68.6%
48	Liberty University	VA	$94,928	9	99%
49	University of Houston	TX	$94,814	38	73.9%
50	Louisiana State University	LA	$94,748	46	73.3%
51	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus	OK	$94,692	48	75%
52	Rutgers University-New Brunswick	NJ	$94,382	61	58.1%
53	California State University-East Bay	CA	$93,793	11	97.4%
54	North Carolina A & T State University	NC	$93,183	30	49.9%
55	Kansas State University	KS	$93,098	35	81.7%
56	Iowa State University	IA	$92,914	102	88.7%
57	South Dakota School of Mines and Technology	SD	$92,815	30	79.9%
58	Clemson University	SC	$92,491	169	38.3%
59	Mississippi State University	MS	$92,332	71	77.6%
60	Western Michigan University	MI	$92,306	20	84.6%
61	University of Minnesota	MN	$92,241	71	79.8%
62	Lamar University	TX	$91,806	21	86.4%
63	University of Central Florida	FL	$91,630	120	40.1%
64	East Texas A&M University	TX	$91,614	8	92.2%
65	Texas State University	TX	$90,729	23	89.3%
66	University of Rhode Island	RI	$90,399	12	72.2%
67	Indiana Institute of Technology	IN	$90,363	12	70.4%
68	Indiana Institute of Technology-College of Professional Studies	IN	$90,363	11
69	University of South Florida	FL	$90,040	71	43.2%
70	Bradley University	IL	$89,362	13	76.8%
71	University of Wisconsin-Platteville	WI	$88,918	35	89.4%
72	Louisiana Tech University	LA	$88,619	10	86.4%
73	Montana State University	MT	$88,087	25	82.1%
74	Milwaukee School of Engineering	WI	$87,279	23	58.9%
75	Youngstown State University	OH	$86,340	18	84.5%
76	Kettering University	MI	$86,265	25	78.7%
77	University of Illinois Chicago	IL	$86,202	23	77.3%
78	University at Buffalo	NY	$86,118	40	74.2%
79	North Dakota State University-Main Campus	ND	$84,016	15	95%
80	University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee	WI	$82,763	20	90.7%
81	Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	IL	$82,744	22	97.5%
82	Northern Illinois University	IL	$82,584	11	69.8%
83	The University of Texas at El Paso	TX	$82,391	30	99.9%
84	Morgan State University	MD	$81,416	19	82.2%
85	University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez	PR	$75,096	90	56.5%
86	Kent State University at Kent	OH	$72,958	5	86.3%
87	Inter American University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon	PR	$56,541	21	39.6%

28 more colleges award this degree but have no earnings figure, usually because the program is small.

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Frequently asked questions

Which college has the highest-paid Industrial Engineering graduates?

Northwestern University ($138,720), Georgia Institute of Technology ($128,003), Lehigh University ($121,498), University of Michigan ($117,930), Virginia Tech ($116,641) report the highest median earnings four years after graduation.

How much do Industrial Engineering majors make?

The median across 87 colleges is $95,835 four years after graduation. By college it runs from $56,541 to $138,720.

Which colleges have the biggest Industrial Engineering programs?

By bachelor's degrees awarded in a year: Georgia Institute of Technology (346), Texas A&M University (276), Purdue University (269), Virginia Tech (240), Clemson University (169).

Does a higher-earning program mean a better program?

Not on its own. Earnings reflect where graduates live, what jobs they take, and who enrolled in the first place, as well as the teaching. The figures cover only graduates who received federal financial aid, and small programs are left out, so a college missing from this list may still have a strong department.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Data by Field of Study (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release, federal program category "Industrial Engineering". Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal financial aid, working and not enrolled, four years after a bachelor's degree.