MAJORS · 107 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is a chemical engineering degree worth it?
Part of Engineering — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$1,056,072. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$1,056,072
across 151 bachelor’s programs · 16,445 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$1.07M
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$840K ⟷ +$1.32M
NEVER BREAK EVEN
0%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
26
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$791K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$121K
Questions
- Is a chemical engineering degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 151 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Chemical Engineering is +$1,056,072 and the median is +$1,065,629. 0% of graduates in this field never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between +$839,506 and +$1,322,648.
- How long until a chemical engineering degree pays off?
- Among Chemical Engineering programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 26 (FREOPP 2021). 0% of graduates in the field are in programs that never break even at all.
- Does the school matter for a chemical engineering major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Chemical Engineering graduates span +$839,506 to +$1,322,648 — a +$483K spread within one major. The same field can be a strong trade at one school and a losing one at another, which is why the per-school number matters more than the field average.
↓ Download the data (CSV) · All 115 subfields with full statistics. Free to cite with attribution. · Methodology
Cite this:
LE TEEN (2026). “Chemical Engineering: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/chemical-engineering