Ranked by graduate earnings

Best colleges for Aerospace Engineering

50 Aerospace Engineering programs ranked by real graduate earnings, debt, and completion - from the College Scorecard Field-of-Study data.

Quick answer

For Aerospace Engineering, Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) ranks #1 by our outcome score, with median graduate earnings of $165,562. Rankings reflect earnings, debt, and completion - not reputation or cost - across 50 programs with published outcome data.

#	School	Credential	Median earnings	Median debt	Completers	Score
1	Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD	Master's Degree	$165,562	-	91	86.8
2	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Master's Degree	$151,237	-	48	83.3
3	Stanford University Stanford, CA	Master's Degree	$147,375	-	54	82.3
4	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$151,186	-	45	81.6
5	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	Master's Degree	$126,979	-	142	79.7
6	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$125,514	$20,030	49	79.4
7	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Doctoral Degree	$135,638	-	44	78.4
8	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	Doctoral Degree	$134,630	-	46	78.2
9	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Bachelor's Degree	$115,075	$21,125	164	74.9
10	Cornell University Ithaca, NY	Master's Degree	$132,449	-	29	74.6
11	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Master's Degree	$132,720	-	15	74.5
12	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$115,706	$19,000	63	74.2
13	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Bachelor's Degree	$111,349	$12,410	68	74.2
14	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Master's Degree	$139,463	$55,288	114	74.1
15	Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA	Bachelor's Degree	$114,620	$17,724	59	73.7
16	Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL	Master's Degree	$130,016	-	31	73.2
17	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Bachelor's Degree	$116,350	$24,500	199	72.9
18	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	Master's Degree	$131,275	$32,946	201	72.9
19	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL	Master's Degree	$121,654	-	49	72.1
20	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Master's Degree	$125,843	-	32	71.1
21	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	Master's Degree	$142,946	$34,526	46	71.1
22	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Master's Degree	$125,870	$29,625	114	69.3
23	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Master's Degree	$119,512	-	47	68.6
24	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Daytona Beach, FL	Master's Degree	$121,654	-	22	68.6
25	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Doctoral Degree	$120,445	-	16	67
26	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Master's Degree	$115,736	-	47	66.3
27	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$107,498	$22,500	106	65.9
28	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Master's Degree	$118,193	-	26	65.1
29	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Master's Degree	$120,144	$41,000	131	64.4
30	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	Bachelor's Degree	$102,415	$22,000	215	60.6
31	Auburn University Auburn, AL	Bachelor's Degree	$102,756	$20,417	77	60.5
32	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$100,537	$18,400	96	60.4
33	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$104,422	$22,125	97	60
34	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Master's Degree	$114,594	-	14	59.9
35	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	Bachelor's Degree	$106,633	$25,833	198	59.5
36	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$106,171	$25,750	163	59
37	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	Master's Degree	$108,542	-	42	59
38	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	Master's Degree	$110,778	-	24	58
39	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$100,173	$20,008	83	57.7
40	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$103,022	$19,000	25	57.3
41	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	Master's Degree	$107,344	-	32	56.6
42	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	Bachelor's Degree	$98,044	$21,083	140	55
43	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	Master's Degree	$106,712	-	8	54.3
44	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	Bachelor's Degree	$97,332	$21,500	298	54.1
45	San Jose State University San Jose, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$101,217	-	74	51.6
46	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	Bachelor's Degree	$106,134	$26,061	46	51.5
47	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH	Master's Degree	$105,027	-	27	51.5
48	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	Bachelor's Degree	$97,227	$21,999	186	51.5
49	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	Bachelor's Degree	$110,956	$27,000	28	51.4
50	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	Bachelor's Degree	$101,797	$25,775	97	50.8

Filter Aerospace Engineering by state & degree level →

Hidden Gems for Aerospace Engineering

Lower-profile schools with a genuinely strong outcome score for Aerospace Engineering - the famous brand names and mega-flagships are deliberately filtered out.

#	School	Median earnings	Admit rate	Score
1	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$135,638	78%	78.4
2	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$111,349	39%	74.2
3	Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, smaller, lower-profile campus	$130,016	58%	73.2
4	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$121,654	65%	72.1
5	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Daytona Beach, FL Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$121,654	58%	68.6
6	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$115,736	55%	66.3
7	Auburn University Auburn, AL Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$102,756	46%	60.5
8	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$106,171	75%	59
9	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$107,344	60%	56.6
10	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$98,044	45%	55
11	San Jose State University San Jose, CA Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, accessible admissions, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$101,217	85%	51.6
12	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH Strong Aerospace Engineering outcome score, lower-profile than the field’s famous names	$106,134	37%	51.5

Hidden Gems use the same College Scorecard outcome score, then drop the pool’s most-selective brands (bottom-quartile admit rate) and largest campuses (top-quartile enrollment). Schools that don’t report admit rate or enrollment are not dropped by that guard.

How we ranked this

Programs are scored 0-100 within the Aerospace Engineering field (CIP 14.02) using three College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (weighted 70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, inverted so lower debt scores higher), and completer count (10%, log-scaled). Each input is percentile-ranked against the other Aerospace Engineering programs, so the score is robust to outliers and comparable across schools. Programs with no published earnings are excluded - never given a fabricated number. This is the same engine that powers our interactive Major Rankings. Minimum 5 scorable programs required to publish.

Frequently asked questions

Which college has the best Aerospace Engineering program?+

By our outcome score, Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) ranks #1 for Aerospace Engineering, with median graduate earnings of $165,562.

How are these Aerospace Engineering programs ranked?+

Each program gets a 0-100 outcome score from three real College Scorecard figures: median graduate earnings (70%), median federal-loan debt (20%, lower is better), and completer count (10%). Programs are compared within the major so the score reflects the best schools for this field specifically.

Where does the earnings and debt data come from?+

The U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard Field-of-Study file, which publishes median earnings and median debt by institution and major (4-digit CIP). Figures are post-graduation medians; programs without published earnings are not scored and are omitted from this ranking.

Can I filter Aerospace Engineering programs by state or degree level?+

Yes. This page shows the national top programs; use the interactive Major Rankings tool to filter the same data by state, and by credential level (bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral).

Keep exploring

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Data sources: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (Field of Study) · IPEDS Completions. Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “-” and never estimated. GetInto.College does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.