by our College Data Analytics TeamIn the latest year, 440 U.S. colleges awarded 43,874 degrees and certificates in Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor’s degrees are the most popular award, at 77% of graduates. College Factual ranks 377 schools in its 2027 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools ranking and compares their cost in a Best Value ranking. Graduates earn a median $72,788 one year after completing, rising to $94,109 after four years.
Mechanical engineers help develop, build, and improve machines. In this major, you learn how machines work and about the energy needed to make them run. Mechanical Engineers are the people responsible for imagining and building machine tools, manufacturing equipment, vehicles and more. You will learn what makes planes fly and the physics that is involved in roller coasters. This major will allow you to discover the secrets behind mechanical devices.
Every school will have different requirements, but some courses you can expect to come across include: circuits and electronics, chemistry, statistics, dynamics, differential equations, thermodynamics, materials science, principle of design, principles of engineering, and fluid mechanics and aerodynamics.
A degree in Mechanical Engineering explores Mechanical Engineering.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; BLS; O*NET; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Across the country, mechanical engineering is a widely-pursued major, with 43,874 degrees awarded annually. 440 colleges award mechanical engineering degrees, an average of 100 graduates per school; the largest program awarded 1,148.
By level, the 43,874 awards include 36 certificates, 425 associate degrees, 33,841 bachelor’s degrees, 7,772 master’s degrees and 1,797 doctorates.
Women earned 18% of mechanical engineering degrees and certificates in the latest year (8,110 of 43,874). The largest groups of graduates by race and ethnicity are White (23,161) and Hispanic or Latino (6,261), and international students earned 5,728.
College Factual ranks 377 schools in its 2027 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools ranking, including 18 for associate degrees, 355 for bachelor’s degrees, 169 for master’s degrees and 66 for doctorates. It also ranks mechanical engineering schools within 52 states. In all, 440 colleges offer mechanical engineering programs; compare them by degree level below or in the Best Value Mechanical Engineering Colleges ranking, which weighs quality against cost.
The most common mechanical engineering credential is the bachelor’s degree: 33,841 of the 43,874 awarded in the latest year. Jobs related to mechanical engineering call most for Reading Comprehension, Speaking and Critical Thinking, and for knowledge of Engineering and Technology, Mathematics and Design, according to O*NET. The most important abilities are Oral Expression, Written Comprehension and Oral Comprehension.
If you are creative and like to design and build unique pieces of machinery this will be a great major for you. You must be willing to think outside the box while being precise and having attention to detail. This will help when you start to make new discoveries as you address complex problems. You will rely heavily on your math skills and apply these advanced topics of mathematics to help analyze and design your work.
Students will spend a good deal of time working on group projects, studying in the library or writing up lab reports and research papers. Most schools will require you work a co-op, so it may take you five years as undergraduate student to graduate instead of typical four years. This so you can learn the mechanical skills necessary to join the workforce and tackle real world problems.
Top skills, rated 0–5:
Top knowledge areas, rated 0–5:
How long a mechanical engineering degree takes:
| Degree | Typical Program Length | Graduates Annually |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate | Varies | 36 |
| Associate Degree | 2 years | 425 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 4 years | 33,841 |
| Master’s Degree | 1-3 years | 7,772 |
| Doctorate | At least 4 years | 1,797 |
Bachelor’s degree is the most common level of education among workers in jobs related to mechanical engineering, at 31.3%.
| Level of Education | Percentage of Workers |
|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree | 31.3% |
| Doctoral degree | 29.3% |
| Master’s degree | 14.4% |
| Post-master’s certificate | 9.7% |
| Post-doctoral training | 8.7% |
| Associate’s degree (or other 2-year) | 2.8% |
| Postsecondary certificate | 1.5% |
| First professional degree | 0.9% |
| Post-baccalaureate certificate | 0.7% |
| High school diploma or equivalent | 0.5% |
| Some college courses | 0.3% |
Source: O*NET Online.
8 occupations are related to Mechanical Engineering, with an average median salary of $92,377; the strongest outlook belongs to Cost Estimators, at 12.4% projected job growth. Typical job titles include Engineering Teacher, Mechanical Engineering Professor, Mining Teacher and Engineering Faculty Member.
This major will allow you to work in broad variety of fields. You could work with many diverse employers from NASA to large power plants to the biomedical field to environmental control to transportation. You could design tiny measuring instruments, large aircraft carriers or power plants.
It will be easier for you to obtain a job if you have experience with new software and recent technology.
The occupation related to mechanical engineering with the most projected jobs is Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary, at 1,297,204.
| Occupation | Projected Jobs | Expected Growth |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary | 1,297,204 | -2.0% |
| Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers | 440,884 | 8.0% |
| Automotive Engineers | 266,832 | 6.0% |
| Architectural and Engineering Managers | 207,139 | 9.0% |
| Cost Estimators | 181,631 | 12.4% |
| Fuel Cell Engineers | 154,557 | -1.8% |
| Aerospace Engineers | 138,496 | 5.1% |
| Mechanical Engineers | 95,445 | 7.7% |
Mechanical Engineering graduates earn a median $72,788 one year after completing their program, $94,109 after four years and $94,160 after five years, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard.
| Years Out | Median Earnings |
|---|---|
| 1 year | $72,788 |
| 4 years | $94,109 |
| 5 years | $94,160 |
Source: College Scorecard.
The highest-paying occupation related to mechanical engineering is Fuel Cell Engineers, with a median salary of $137,020.
| Occupation | Median Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| Fuel Cell Engineers | $137,020 |
| Automotive Engineers | $107,733 |
| Architectural and Engineering Managers | $101,277 |
| Biofuels/Biodiesel Technology and Product Development Managers | $89,263 |
| Cost Estimators | $80,966 |
| Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary | $79,889 |
| Mechanical Engineers | $79,543 |
| Aerospace Engineers | $63,328 |
Mechanical Engineering includes 1 concentration; by graduates, the largest is Mechanical Engineering (43,874). It has 40 similar majors in the Engineering field, which together award 159,161 degrees a year; the largest are Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (27,513), Computer Engineering (21,335) and Civil Engineering (19,856). Browse all Engineering majors or the full list of college majors.
| Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 43,874 |
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 27,513 |
| Computer Engineering | 21,335 |
| Civil Engineering | 19,856 |
| Engineering, General | 14,789 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering | 14,592 |
| Chemical Engineering | 10,559 |
| Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering | 10,170 |
| Industrial Engineering | 8,023 |
| Systems Engineering | 4,489 |
| Engineering, Other | 3,344 |
More about our data sources and methodologies.
