MAJORS · 112 OF 115 SUBFIELDS BY ROI
Is an industrial engineering degree worth it?
Part of Engineering — see the whole category’s numbers.
On average, yes — the mean lifetime ROI is +$1,257,929. But the spread is the real story.
MEAN LIFETIME ROI · FREOPP 2021 · COHORT-WEIGHTED
+$1,257,929
across 82 bachelor’s programs · 7,327 graduates
MEDIAN GRADUATE
+$1.27M
MIDDLE 50% LAND BETWEEN
+$1.10M ⟷ +$1.40M
NEVER BREAK EVEN
0%
MEDIAN BREAK-EVEN AGE
26
ADJUSTED FOR REAL COMPLETION RATES
+$959K
IF YOU DROP OUT
−$115K
Questions
- Is an industrial engineering degree worth it?
- On average yes — across 82 U.S. bachelor’s programs (FREOPP 2021, cohort-weighted), the mean lifetime ROI for Industrial Engineering is +$1,257,929 and the median is +$1,266,576. 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 +$1,098,664 and +$1,395,483.
- How long until an industrial engineering degree pays off?
- Among Industrial 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 an industrial engineering major?
- Enormously. The middle 50% of Industrial Engineering graduates span +$1,098,664 to +$1,395,483 — a +$297K 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). “Industrial Engineering: lifetime ROI statistics.” Data: FREOPP 2021. https://le-teen.com/majors/industrial-engineering