MAJORS · 19 OF 19 BY ROI

Is a engineering degree worth it?

On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$1,132,553. But the spread is the real story.

MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED

+$1,132,553

across 2,183 bachelor’s programs · 208,317 graduates

MEDIAN GRADUATE

+$1.13M

MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN

+$943K ⟷ +$1.31M

NEVER BREAK EVEN

0%

MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE

26

ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES

+$788K

IF YOU DROP OUT

−$119K

The biggest fields inside Engineering

  1. Mechanical Engineering. 54,017 grads +$1.11M
  2. Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering. 25,799 grads +$1.30M
  3. Civil Engineering. 24,206 grads +$1.04M
  4. Chemical Engineering. 16,445 grads +$1.06M
  5. Computer Engineering. 13,163 grads +$1.33M

Mean lifetime ROI per field, cohort-weighted. A category average hides this spread — and the per-school spread inside each field is wider still.

Questions

Is a engineering degree worth it?
On average yes — across 2,183 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Engineering is +$1,132,553 and the median is +$1,125,922. 0% of graduates in this category never break even on the degree. The honest answer depends heavily on the specific program and school: the middle half of graduates land between +$943,430 and +$1,312,427.
How long until a engineering degree pays off?
Among Engineering programs that do break even, the median graduate crosses into positive ROI at age 26 (FREOPP 2021). 0% of graduates in the category are in programs that never break even at all.
Does the school matter for a engineering major?
Enormously. The middle 50% of Engineering graduates span +$943,430 to +$1,312,427 — a +$369K 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 category average.

↓ Download the data (CSV) · All 19 categories with full statistics. Free to cite with attribution. · Methodology

Cite this:

LE TEEN (2026). “Engineering: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/engineering