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Mechatronics engineering majors were the top-paid Class of 2015 engineering graduates at the bachelor’s degree level, according to results of NACE’s Class of 2015 First-Destination Survey.
Mechatronics engineering majors earned an average of nearly $81,000. They were followed by petroleum engineering and computer engineering majors. (See Figure 1.)
Three of the engineering majors on this year’s top-paid list—petroleum engineering, computer engineering, and electrical engineering—were also among the top five for the Class of 2014. (See Figure 2.) However, while the average starting salaries for computer and electrical engineering majors remained relatively stable this year, the salary for petroleum engineering majors—last year’s top-paid engineering major by a wide margin—is down significantly from last year.
For NACE’s Class of 2015 First-Destination Survey, 279 colleges and universities nationwide, representing nearly half a million graduates, provided data for Class of 2015 associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree graduates. Overall, data were reported for nearly 244,000 bachelor’s degree graduates in 34 broad disciplines and 185 majors. An executive summary of the survey, which also covered first destinations for associate, master’s, and doctoral degree-level graduates, and details about outcomes by specific major, is available on NACEWeb.
Figure 1: Top-Paid Class of 2015 engineering majors
| Mechatronics Engineering |
$80,859 |
| Petroleum Engineering |
$74,996 |
| Computer Engineering |
$68,820 |
| Aerospace Engineering |
$67,658 |
| Electrical Engineering |
$67,593 |
Source: Class of 2015 First-Destination Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers. All data are for bachelor’s degree graduates and represent initial post-graduation outcomes as of December 31, 2015.
Figure 2: Top-paid Class of 2014 engineering majors
| Petroleum Engineering |
$86,255 |
| Electrical Engineering |
$68,778 |
| Mining Engineering |
$68,153 |
| Chemical Engineering |
$68,061 |
| Computer Engineering |
$68,053 |
Source: Class of 2014 First-Destination Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers. All data are for bachelor’s degree graduates and represent initial post-graduation outcomes as of December 31, 2014.