The 50 colleges that score highest for Aerospace engineering on public federal data: selectivity, graduate earnings, program size, academic strength and graduate depth. It is a starting point for your research, not a judgment of quality.
50 colleges · each name links to its page, with sources · data snapshot October 2, 2026 · Updated October 2, 2026
How we rank programs · showing the top 50 of 50 core colleges ranked, those with enough graduates and earnings data · All top-programs lists
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| Rank | College | State | What we measured | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford University | CA | Median earnings $115,859 (field-wide) · 13 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | MA | Median earnings $114,620 · 57 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 3 | University of Southern California | CA | Median earnings $125,514 · 61 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 4 | University of California-Los Angeles | CA | Median earnings $115,706 · 61 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 5 | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor | MI | Median earnings $115,075 · 128 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 6 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | GA | Median earnings $102,415 · 248 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 7 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | WA | Median earnings $111,349 · 64 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 8 | The University of Texas at Austin | TX | Median earnings $104,422 · 107 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 9 | University of California-San Diego | CA | Median earnings $100,173 · 88 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 10 | Purdue University-Main Campus | IN | Median earnings $94,221 · 496 graduates last year · 5% of the school's degrees | |
| 11 | University of Florida | FL | Median earnings $94,375 · 143 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 12 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | IL | Median earnings $97,276 · 141 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 13 | University of Colorado Boulder | CO | Median earnings $116,350 · 206 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 14 | University of Maryland-College Park | MD | Median earnings $98,044 · 130 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 15 | Case Western Reserve University | OH | Median earnings $106,134 · 35 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 16 | University of Notre Dame | IN | Median earnings $103,022 · 35 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 17 | Texas A&M University-College Station | TX | Median earnings $97,227 · 207 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 18 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | VA | Median earnings $106,633 · 202 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees | |
| 19 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | PA | Median earnings $99,159 · 150 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 20 | University of California-Irvine | CA | Median earnings $100,537 · 73 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 21 | University of Miami | FL | Median earnings $94,236 (field-wide) · 11 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 22 | Auburn University | AL | Median earnings $102,756 · 247 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 23 | University of Virginia-Main Campus | VA | Median earnings $85,681 · 50 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 24 | University of Central Florida | FL | Median earnings $96,972 · 226 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 25 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | OH | Median earnings $86,346 · 192 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 26 | University of California-Davis | CA | Median earnings $93,414 · 67 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 27 | San Diego State University | CA | Median earnings $100,139 · 105 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 28 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | NJ | Median earnings $94,598 · 65 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 29 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | NC | Median earnings $89,932 · 101 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 30 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | CA | Median earnings $107,498 · 95 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 31 | Syracuse University | NY | Median earnings $90,470 · 39 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 32 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities | MN | Median earnings $92,422 · 72 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 33 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | NY | Median earnings $94,750 · 92 graduates last year · 7% of the school's degrees | |
| 34 | University at Buffalo | NY | Median earnings $92,360 · 88 graduates last year · 2% of the school's degrees | |
| 35 | University of North Dakota | ND | Median earnings $104,472 · 413 graduates last year · 22% of the school's degrees | |
| 36 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide | FL | Median earnings $84,131 (college-wide) · 953 graduates last year · 62% of the school's degrees | |
| 37 | California State University-Long Beach | CA | Median earnings $101,797 · 122 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 38 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | TN | Median earnings $89,015 · 70 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 39 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute | MA | Median earnings $105,171 · 74 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 40 | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach | FL | Median earnings $92,105 · 891 graduates last year · 63% of the school's degrees | |
| 41 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | Median earnings $88,128 · 201 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 42 | Florida Institute of Technology | FL | Median earnings $90,167 · 189 graduates last year · 30% of the school's degrees | |
| 43 | The University of Alabama | AL | Median earnings $91,999 · 92 graduates last year · 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 44 | Illinois Institute of Technology | IL | Median earnings $110,956 · 21 graduates last year · 4% of the school's degrees | |
| 45 | United States Air Force Academy | CO | Earnings not published · 174 graduates last year · 17% of the school's degrees | |
| 46 | Baylor University | TX | Median earnings $91,714 (field-wide) · 20 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 47 | University of South Carolina-Columbia | SC | Median earnings $94,120 (field-wide) · 30 graduates last year · under 1% of the school's degrees | |
| 48 | University of Alabama in Huntsville | AL | Median earnings $87,339 · 116 graduates last year · 8% of the school's degrees | |
| 49 | Missouri University of Science and Technology | MO | Median earnings $96,090 · 74 graduates last year · 6% of the school's degrees | |
| 50 | Iowa State University | IA | Median earnings $94,089 · 173 graduates last year · 3% of the school's degrees |
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