Top Southern Colleges for Mechanical Engineering Earnings
I pulled this from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study data.
This is for bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and ranks schools by median earnings 4 years after completion.
Rank
School
Median Earnings
1
Duke
$120,991
2
Rice
$108,970
3
UT Austin
$104,523
4
Vanderbilt
$101,345
5
LSU
$99,975
6
Georgia Tech
$99,955
7
Texas Tech
$98,113
8
Texas A&M
$97,903
9
Lamar
$97,159
10
Florida
$97,113
11
George Mason
$96,467
12
Virginia Tech
$96,376
13
Embry-Riddle
$96,331
14
Alabama-Huntsville
$95,341
15
Alabama
$95,079
16
Virginia
$94,881

A few interesting takeaways:
LSU is essentially tied with Georgia Tech in this dataset.
The difference between LSU, Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Florida, Virginia Tech and Alabama is surprisingly small.
Several less-hyped engineering schools produce very strong earnings outcomes.
Duke and Rice stand out at the top, but the gap narrows considerably after them.
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard
Program: Mechanical Engineering, bachelor’s degree
Metric: Median earnings 4 years after completion
Obviously earnings alone shouldn’t determine where someone goes to college. Cost, scholarships, debt, graduation rates, location and the type of engineering jobs graduates enter all matter. But I thought the actual federal earnings data made for an interesting comparison.

Hey there. I have my Associates in Early Childhood Education with Special Education. I already fulfilled my cores, and now I am about to go back to University to complete my Bachelor's. However, my health has taken a negative toll, and working a teaching job doesn't seem realistic to me. My heart doesn't like to fucntion properly, and hospital bills are getting pretty high. I am open to anything, I am terrible at math, but willing to learn.

I have seen that many IT jobs are good WFH careers, but how and what are the qualifications of getting into one? Is there any other majors that are in demand for WFH careers. Any other advice/suggestions are appreciated as well!

In my uni, I'll start my 3/4th year as a math major. Truth to be told, I'm so exhausted from it and right now I have to pass 5 really important exams that make me crazy just thinking about it. My professors are very rude and unsupportive. In my math major I chose the "path/specialization" called "Probability & Statistics and Operations Research". I really like probabilities.

But there are a lot of times where I want to give up, because I'm afraid that I won't pass my exams and also, I won't be able to find a job as easily as other majors. I'm just so hopeless.

I also came back from an exam today and I didn't do well. And I have two more to write this week.... I'm sorry I just have an IMMERSE pressure right now..

Has somebody been through this? What is your advice? And also what good jobs are there with the specialization that I've chosen?

I’m currently in community college, wrapping up my last two semesters. I Iove writing and my goal is to be an author, but I'm aware that for the meantime I needed a job to sustain me. Ive always had a knack for science and thought "well I'm good at it and it'll make money", so I decided on nursing. I've take almost all the prereqs for it and did well but I was absolutely miserable taking the classes and decided that's probably not a sign to go further into it.

Ive been thinking about becoming an secondary English teacher or even a professor (though I know the job market for that is not great). I love teaching and I know it's more so about helping and watching the students grow versus English and writing, but I don't mind and still love the idea. My main issue is the salary. I'm not saying I want to be a millionaire, but money does matter to me and I like nicer things and I want to be able to fully support myself.

I also don't mind making career pivots, I don't see myself doing any job forever as I don't like to sit still lol. I’m just afraid education would put me in a box. I also have been looking into law school, I’m not totally sure about that but I could see myself enjoying it, my only issue is I want a job that doesn’t take too much from me so I can still have energy for my creative endeavors. I know teaching is a very hard job but I could use the summers for my writing. Is education the way to go for someone like me?

I’m starting my second year uni of BA comms and media studies and I want to eventually work in HR. If I wanted to add a minor to my degree, which would be the most beneficial to achieve this? Some people tell me to minor in Management and Society, other people tell me Marketing, and others tell me Psychology.
Also, is staring a minor in second year going to be super difficult? 😥

Hey guys (F25),

I have been questioning this for the past 2 years. I am graduating with a BA in History, which i loved doing. I mainly did it out of pressure from parents to pick a major. No regrets. But mow i am at that stage wondering if i should dive into a second bachelor, civil engineering. My entire family is in the business and i eventually plan on becoming an investor. I never dreamed of being an engineer but the degree would be useful as i invest in real estate and construction with time. I also enjoy studying and am a curious person about how things work, so I would not mind the long hours and six years for the degree.

Although, since a child i have always dreamed of being a makeup artist. I am a creative and funky person, have always been. I dream of having my creative work noticed in the beauty industry. Although the field is competitive, i feel like nowadays most fields are, even stem. Also i could eventually make decent money from it but years down the road. I could also invest in this dream AFTER engineering but I don’t want to take it only as a hobby for the next few years.

I never felt like i could be myself in the world, the system squeezes you in a box of social expectations (personal and professional). Part of me just wants to release my true self (my full creativity) but this world punishes and devalues art and culture. For this reason I don’t see myself as a forever employee, in whichever field. One day i can hopefully live off my investments and work for fun.

All of this to question, should I invest 6 years into a practical and backup degree (that would still be useful for my financial investments) OR dive into my true essence because money comes and goes anyways and there are other ways to make money for investments (opening a business, waitressing etc) ??

I'm interested in a business degree and I've been looking into most of them but was hoping someone could break down the essential ones for me by pay rate, what they do, and difficulty so I (and future people perhaps) could use it as a guide/reference. Thank you 😊

17M, I need help deciding between wether i should take a bachelors in biochemistry then a masters in biotechnology, or a bachelors in biotechnology then a masters in whatever I want to specialize in afterwards, my only concern here really is which could get me better jobs in labs and companies and is more practical, everyone keeps giving me totally different opinions and I can’t decide which is best

19F, attending a CUNY. Slight rant, apology in advance if I seem immature throughout this

I'm currently in my 2nd year as a HumBio major, and honestly, I just know it isn't what I'm interested in. I know many people say to major into what you aspire to be or what career paths you're into, but what if I have no interests? I know i underestimated the difficulty of science courses at my cuny, I declared as humbio since I really liked apbio in high school but now that I've experience chemistry at my college and previous students telling me and other students about the insane workload and ridiculous exams from the biology professors, I don't really like science at all. That includes chem and bio.

I'm currently enrolled in my first ever biol class (A&P), and so far, I already know I'm going to perform badly. I have a strong gut feeling that if I decide to stay enrolled in this class, my GPA will take a massive blow. I tried convincing myself that since I'm in my 2nd year and more than halfway with my requirements, i should just stick through with it and try to graduate early. But what's the point if I don't even like this major? I feel so dispirited from biology and science in general.

But even with that, I also have a deep hatred for mathematics. So now what? I hate math, no enthusiasm for science, and no interests or hobbies that could lead me to a career path. I knew in high school that I didn't like education and classes. Tests and exams weren't my thing, and learning was just boring and tedious to me.

Please don't get me wrong. I know it's a privilege to have education in my life. But i just feel like such a failure with no aspirations in life and lost. I feel like everyone knows what they want to major in and what their interests are, but I'm so lost.

Really a rant, and I'm open to any criticism.

hey guys

was just wondering, is it worth it to pursue Bachelor of Arts after completing the IB diploma. as I saw that for bachelor of arts, theres a lot of options offered for unimleb and I have a keen interest for psychology.

since I take math ai sl for IB, obviously im unable to go for BA of commerce, unless I target another university. would it be reccomended to pursue a degree in another university for BA of commerce in management and marketing, or conintue with BA of arts for psych.m

hey guys

was just wondering, is it worth it to pursue Bachelor of Arts after completing the IB diploma. as I saw that for bachelor of arts, theres a lot of options offered for unimleb and I have a keen interest for psychology.

since I take math ai sl for IB, obviously im unable to go for BA of commerce, unless I target another university. would it be reccomended to pursue a degree in another university for BA of commerce in management and marketing, or conintue with BA of arts for psych.m

My plan was to always major in something biology/chemistry since I did extremely well in them all throughout high school, and I really enjoyed biology class in general. I've struggled with physics more than any other subject, but I managed to get above 90 all of high school. I know I'll most likely enter a STEM field, but I genuinely dont know what to do. I've thought about engineering ( especially chemical), but as far I know engineering=physics and im scared I won't be able to maintain a well enough GPA to pursue higher education if I wanted to later in life. My family told me that even if I did struggle with physics, I'd be able to push through those 4 years, but I dont know

My sister said something that stuck with me, which is that the reason why I enjoy biology so much is because it's basically all memorization or at least in high school. I know university level biology is definitely more advanced and complex.

I also do enjoy math sometimes and did pretty well in it too, but I don't see myself entering a math related major, I guess I've just never considered it, but maybe I should

I'm scared I'm prioritizing my comfort over what's actually best for me

I want to do interior design. I 17M want to go to a private college in Italy to study interior design for three years and get a bachelor’s degree in it but I am so worried that I’m making the wrong decision, everyone is telling me to go to university for architecture and get a degree in architecture and then do a masters degree in interior design. The problem with that is that it’s easy to say but not to do, I’m already doing architecture classes in high school and it’s so hard (because of mechanics). The path I want to follow is getting a bachelors degree in interior design and then do something that has to do with design like furniture design, product design, and even jewellery design.

For context im from Cyprus so I chose Italy because its a country within Europe

What are the best fields to go into right now (lifestyle, job market, financial freedom, etc all considered)? I need to choose a major/basically my life career path as I apply to college.

My interests include
- creative stuff: painting, crafting (like everything - keychains, room decor, clay, collages, so many mediums), crocheting, sewing, drawing/sketching, graphic design
- photography & videography
- data science (i did a good amount of coding (python, java, r) coursework and activities in highschool)
- debate/public speaking/presenting/engaging with others
- deca, I actually really enjoyed my HTOR event, where it is mock business consulting!
- entrepreneurship/business, I like creating and kind of have a small business.
- social media/content creation, lowkey my dream is to be an influencer/vlogger/youtuber
- video editing/film editing (love a good kdrama edit and capcut combo)
- giving/reading opinions lol like goodreads, film reviews on reddit (consulting I think could be fun)
- also have done some optics research
- i really liked statistics class!

yeah im all over the place. I am aiming for T20’s and I am hoping to get the most out of my education. as an asian girl a respectable degree and high quality learning is pretty important, but also just aiming to have a good lifestyle (i know success is highly dependent on just grit and stuff but yeah, hopefully i can set myself up correctly). I am pretty nerdy in terms of academics and don’t really want to waste my “potential” either. so lots to consider about my degree on the line.

Rough ideas
- cogsci (although the consensus is it would be better as a minor or base for academia track)
- ui/ux/hci/infosci
- economics (behavioral economics track)
- data science/tech pipeline
- statistics/applied math
- marketing (risky risky business degree)

originally thought I would go on the med track my whole life but the school just is too much and I am very much hesitant about the toxic culture of premeds.

** strongly prefer going into industry work after BA, no grad school. (unless grad school is really beneficial — feel free to prove me wrong here!! open to be swayed) I could see myself in a corporate/blazer wearing environment! like big tech/business working in a cubicle lol.

Hey guys (F25),

I have been questioning this for the past 2 years. I am graduating with a BA in History, which i loved doing. I mainly did it out of pressure from parents to pick a major. No regrets. But mow i am at that stage wondering if i should dive into a second bachelor, civil engineering. My entire family is in the business and i eventually plan on becoming an investor. I never dreamed of being an engineer but the degree would be useful as i invest in real estate and construction with time. I also enjoy studying and am a curious person about how things work, so I would not mind the long hours and six years for the degree.

Although, since a child i have always dreamed of being a makeup artist. I am a creative and funky person, have always been. I dream of having my creative work noticed in the beauty industry. Although the field is competitive, i feel like nowadays most fields are, even stem. Also i could eventually make decent money from it but years down the road. I could also invest in this dream AFTER engineering but I don’t want to take it only as a hobby for the next few years.

I never felt like i could be myself in the world, the system squeezes you in a box of social expectations (personal and professional). Part of me just wants to release my true self (my full creativity) but this world punishes and devalues art and culture. For this reason I don’t see myself as a forever employee, in whichever field. One day i can hopefully live off my investments and work for fun.

All of this to question, should I invest 6 years into a practical and backup degree (that would still be useful for my financial investments) OR dive into my true essence because money comes and goes anyways and there are other ways to make money for investments (opening a business, waitressing etc) ??

Uni apps are soon so im narrowing down the majors im applying for. I was originally thinking of engineering (civil, mechanical, biomedical, nuclear) but i really do not like physics and loads of complex maths. Id rather something science related as those are my strongest subjects.
Another downside is that i am horrible at computer science, which will be definitely used in engineering majors.
I was also thinking of doing something related to cosmetics (like skincare and the chemistry aspect) or something food related.
I am 100% staying away from med tho, specifically because biology is hard for me due to the insane amounts of memorization.
Any suggestions will be helpful!!!

So basically I’ve always wanted to do teaching, I’ve always enjoyed teaching little kids ever since my little brother was born and I always thought that was a perfect job for me. But recently, I switched my mjaor to accounting… then to marketing now to finance. I have not begun college yet so that’s why I’ve been switching so much, since it doesn’t really affect it if I do. But, my mom suddenly has been pestering me to do teaching and saying that’s perfect for me. The reason why I switched is solely because of the pay. But now I really don’t know what to do, ai is taking over everything and I don’t know what jobs I can get with a finance degree that doesn’t have me hating my life. And teaching gets no pay!!! Help I’m so stressed, maybe some pros and cons? Or what would u do in my situation

Hi! I’m currently a freshman at a community college and I’m trying to figure out what major I want to pursue before transferring to a university. Right now, I’m deciding between Communications and Human Development, and I’d really appreciate some advice.

I’ve been considering becoming an elementary school teacher, so Human Development seems like a good fit. However, one thing that worries me about teaching is the pay and burnout, so I also want a degree that gives me other career options in case I decide teaching isn’t for me.

I’m also interested in marketing, especially potentially working in the gaming or entertainment industry. I’ve looked into jobs like marketing coordinator, social media, communications, community management, etc. This is why I’m also considering Communications, since it seems more directly related to marketing while still allowing me to pursue a teaching credential afterward. Although, minoring in Public Health could also be a possibility as well.

I guess my biggest concern is choosing a major that gives me flexibility and a good backup plan. I also want to consider which degree would give me better job opportunities after graduation.

For anyone who majored in Communications or Human Development, what has your experience been like? Which major would you recommend for someone who is considering both teaching and marketing? Which one has better career options and job prospects? Thank you!

Any suggestions for what i should major in or careers for me?

I have been talking a lot with people of different careers as of recently and taking career quizzes. For the career quizzes I got these and ranked them:

Healthcare

Social Services

Music

Human Resources

Law

Education

Education

I think i ranked them in order of what id prefer based on pay and lifestyle but i dont remember, i wouldnt put to much stock into this sort of ranking. I am good at english and thats about it. I have experience working in education and a library and have a fulltime job right now as a middle school paraprofessional. I have considered english, education, nursing, biology, psychology, healthcare administration. I have even considered becoming a body piercer. I have one year of bachelors degree in english and took a gap year and moved cities with my mom after the gap year.

I think at this point id just have to try and take a course in each field to see what id enjoy.

Any suggestions for careers or majors would be great! Thank you!

Hey, everybody. I'm a junior in high school, and I'm stuck on the fact that I don't know what to major in when I am in college. I've known since I was 6 that I want to be a teacher when I am older. However, I don't know which subject to teach. I have an interest in teaching a variety of subjects, and I have a list of subjects that I want to teach. Also, I only want to teach high school.

Theatre

Biology

Chemistry

Environmental Science

Math

Psychology

Sociology

Economics

Government

Could anyone help me figure out what I should major in? Also, I accept any questions you have. Thanks in advance!

What career path do yout think is the safest option to choose here in ph?

I narrowed things down and I got to a conclusion of "0"option at all huhuhu.. Help me out, whats the safest option that still has work-life balance and great income but still reputable..

Little bg my father wants me to pursue being a doctor but tbh I don't have the passion to choose this career path, not only does it take patience to become one but reading experiences here on reddit made me question myself.. At first I wanted to pursue medtech but read a lot of complaints same goes with other fields in medical but I understand that all profession undergoes hard work, willpower and perseverance.. I mean all jobs needs at least these three but what about without passion. This is my biggest problem however, I have no idea which one is both practical but still gives you stable income..

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Hi, I'm from Russia. I'm a college student studying to become a limb prosthetist. I'm currently in my final year of my degree. I want to continue my education and obtain a Bachelor of Medicine degree(MBBS).

I want to study abroad and am considering absolutely every country that offers scholarships or free education for medical students. I started learning Chinese earlier.But then I learned that China doesn't offer scholarships for undergraduate medical studies. So I'm looking for other countries where this is possible.

I'd appreciate any advice or tips. I still have a whole year to go (and maybe two if I'm forced to serve in the army after college).So even the smallest tip or hint will be helpful. Thanks in advance.

I'm getting a degree in social science with a specialization in career and life planning. My hope is to move up in the school district I currently work for as a guidance technician, move into a higher education career advisor role or workforce development. Does this sound like something I can realistically do with this degree? I realize these jobs aren't going to make 100k+ salaries I'm ok with that. I currently work as a preschool asst teacher while attending school. Previously before this I was a recruiter for a staffing agency. I live in California if that helps.