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Computer engineering majors earned the top average starting salary among Class of 2017 engineering majors earning bachelor’s degrees, according to results of NACE’s Summer 2018 Salary Survey.
Computer engineering majors earned starting salaries that averaged $76,070. Petroleum engineering majors and those earning degrees in electrical, electronics, and communications engineering followed closely with average salaries of $73,084 and $72,930, respectively.
Systems engineering ($69,432) and materials engineering ($68,449) majors rounded out the five top-paid engineering majors from the Class of 2017.
The Summer 2018 Salary Survey report provides actual starting salaries (not projections) for the college Class of 2017, and serves as the final salary report for the Class of 2017. Data were gathered from Class of 2017 graduates through December 31, 2017, and reported to NACE through May 25, 2018. The salary data were reported to NACE through its national Class of 2017 First-Destination Survey by approximately 366 colleges and universities nationwide, and represent data for slightly more than 695,000 graduates at the associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree levels. The analysis provided here focuses on the data provided for more than 81,800 bachelor’s degree graduates. The Summer 2018 Salary Survey report is available to members in MyNACE. An executive summary report is available at http://www.naceweb.org/research/reports/.
Figure 1: Top Average Starting Salaries for Class of 2017 Engineering Majors
| Major |
Average Salary |
| Computer engineering |
$76,070 |
| Petroleum engineering |
$73,084 |
| Electrical, electronics, and communications engineering |
$72,930 |
| Systems engineering |
$69,432 |
| Materials engineering |
$68,449 |
| Mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineering |
$66,519 |
| Chemical engineering |
$66,490 |
| Industrial engineering |
$64,904 |
| Aerospace engineering |
$64,699 |
| Manufacturing engineering |
$64,630 |
Source: Summer 2018 Salary Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers