Major Rankings

Best Colleges for Computer Engineering

Ranked by graduate earnings. Data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard — updated 2026.

Programs tracked: 174

Avg grad salary: $90,314

Total graduates: 10,425

Top Colleges for Computer Engineering — Ranked by Graduate Earnings

Showing schools with reported earnings data. Earnings reflect median graduate salary 4 years after graduation (or 1 year where 4-year data is unavailable).

#	School	Median Salary (4yr)	Starting Salary (1yr)	Graduates	Median Debt	Admit Rate
1	University of Washington-Bothell Campus Bothell, WA	$168,957	$141,588	24	$16,127	91.8%
2	University of Washington Seattle, WA	$168,957	$141,588	24	$16,127	42.5%
3	Santa Clara University Santa Clara, CA	$159,782	$103,804	45	$24,666	43.8%
4	Duke University Durham, NC	$137,144	$111,145	65	$14,500	6.8%
5	University of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	$135,287	$118,232	38	$16,875	16.9%
6	Brigham Young University Provo, UT	$127,592	$88,785	43	$10,750	69.2%
7	UC San Diego La Jolla, CA	$126,160	$96,256	88	$18,497	24.5%
8	Cal Poly SLO San Luis Obispo, CA	$122,307	$111,560	139	$20,556	29.8%
9	UIUC Champaign, IL	$122,137	$103,123	199	$20,500	43.7%
10	Northeastern University Boston, MA	$121,329	$99,499	116	$25,005	9.9%
11	UC Davis Davis, CA	$120,745	$96,418	71	$12,804	41.6%
12	UC Santa Cruz Santa Cruz, CA	$118,191	$79,969	81	$23,392	62.5%
13	Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken, NJ	$115,744	$89,001	76	$26,930	43.4%
14	UC Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	$114,658	$91,387	29	$14,410	27.8%
15	Villanova University Villanova, PA	$111,769	$94,228	38	$26,000	25.1%
16	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Terre Haute, IN	$110,766	$92,123	71	$24,834	72.8%
17	Boston University Boston, MA	$110,259	$93,995	73	$26,866	10.8%
18	University of Massachusetts-Amherst Amherst, MA	$109,618	$89,327	72	$27,000	57.8%
19	University of Maryland College Park, MD	$108,499	$95,847	74	$20,695	44.8%
20	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI	$107,608	$92,501	87	$20,500	17.9%
21	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	$107,350	$86,636	134	$26,000	57.0%
22	North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND	$107,333	$76,558	39	$21,511	95.8%
23	Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA	$106,200	$93,629	110	$25,399	16.5%
24	Rochester Institute of Technology Rochester, NY	$105,334	$90,829	227	$28,500	71.4%
25	Texas A&M University College Station, TX	$104,901	$86,366	104	$22,816	63.2%
26	University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR	$103,783	$77,306	19	$26,500	71.7%
27	Purdue University West Lafayette, IN	$103,645	$89,965	95	$23,000	50.3%
28	Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA	$102,472	$82,209	19	$24,625	29.3%
29	California State University-Fresno Fresno, CA	$102,202	$75,101	28	$30,486	96.4%
30	Columbia University New York, NY	N/A	$102,083	17	N/A	4.2%
31	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY	$101,946	$80,942	37	$27,000	77.2%
32	California State University-Fullerton Fullerton, CA	$101,927	$55,093	64	$18,500	86.7%
33	DigiPen Institute of Technology Redmond, WA	N/A	$101,832	16	N/A	68.0%
34	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	$101,600	$81,123	281	$26,972	90.2%
35	Arizona State University Digital Immersion Scottsdale, AZ	$101,600	$81,123	281	$26,972	64.1%
36	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	$101,060	$81,226	86	$20,833	81.3%
37	University of California-Riverside Riverside, CA	$100,678	$65,049	49	$25,083	63.3%
38	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	$100,248	$87,949	114	$22,562	24.0%
39	UC Irvine Irvine, CA	$100,156	$79,812	220	$19,233	25.6%
40	George Mason University Fairfax, VA	$99,351	$87,466	45	$26,697	88.8%
41	University of Maryland-Baltimore County Baltimore, MD	$99,299	$86,444	50	$19,988	74.2%
42	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA	$99,180	$89,418	121	$28,166	77.5%
43	Stony Brook University Stony Brook, NY	$99,098	$73,820	50	$22,990	49.0%
44	The University of Texas at Dallas Richardson, TX	$98,131	$77,609	210	$21,000	65.5%
45	Binghamton University Vestal, NY	$97,721	$86,938	20	$23,945	37.7%
46	California State University-Sacramento Sacramento, CA	$97,708	$66,266	54	$17,500	93.6%
47	University of North Texas Denton, TX	$96,651	$78,714	49	$23,235	72.5%
48	Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX	$96,395	$85,619	40	$27,000	70.9%
49	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	$96,333	$86,211	43	$23,000	83.3%
50	Old Dominion University Norfolk, VA	$96,247	$70,298	18	$23,360	90.5%
51	Florida Gulf Coast University Fort Myers, FL	$96,155	$60,746	66	$25,000	76.8%
52	NYU New York, NY	$96,016	$82,183	36	$19,000	9.4%
53	Iowa State University Ames, IA	$95,433	$79,182	357	$24,337	89.1%
54	University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lincoln, NE	$95,354	$82,398	27	$20,240	77.1%
55	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ	$94,869	$67,640	66	$22,375	66.9%
56	Florida State University Tallahassee, FL	$94,745	$78,941	26	$23,346	25.4%
57	University of New Hampshire-Main Campus Durham, NH	$94,677	$88,904	20	$21,500	86.9%
58	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	$94,641	$79,809	69	$15,759	47.1%
59	Michigan Technological University Houghton, MI	$94,603	$77,465	88	$27,000	87.9%
60	Ohio State University Columbus, OH	$94,224	$83,342	324	$20,247	50.8%

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are median among graduates who received federal financial aid.

Choosing the Best Computer Engineering Program

Graduate Earnings

Median salary 4 years post-graduation measures the long-term ROI of a program. Higher earnings with lower debt means better financial outcomes.

Program Size

Graduate count signals program maturity. Larger programs often have stronger alumni networks and more job placement resources.

Debt-to-Earnings Ratio

Compare median debt against starting salary. A ratio below 1x means most graduates can repay loans within a year of earnings.

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