Chemical Engineering at Colorado School of Mines

Colorado School of Mines' chemical engineering program sits in an unusual position: excellent debt management paired with surprisingly modest starting salaries. Graduates leave with just $27,000 in debt—lower than 95% of chemical engineering programs nationwide—but earn $68,318 in their first year, which trails the national median by nearly $5,000. Among Colorado's limited chemical engineering options, this program ranks middle of the pack, matching the state median exactly while falling behind CU Boulder by about $2,000 annually.

The gap narrows over time, with earnings climbing to $82,472 by year four—solid growth that begins closing the distance to national norms. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.40 is genuinely strong, meaning graduates can reasonably expect to clear their loans within a year or two with focused repayment. For a school with a 1403 average SAT and 60% admission rate, these outcomes suggest Mines emphasizes accessibility without loading students with excessive debt, even if it doesn't command the premium starting salaries you might expect from a specialized technical institution.

The trade here is clear: you're paying less and borrowing less, but you're also starting behind peers at many other chemical engineering programs. If your child values minimizing debt over maximizing immediate earnings—and plans to stay in Colorado where these salaries are competitive—this could work well. If they're comparison-shopping nationally or targeting the highest-paying chemical engineering roles right out of college, stronger programs exist elsewhere.