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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 →

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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. CertiHomes Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.