Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach

Embry-Riddle's electrical engineering program commands a premium price point—graduates carry $25,000 in debt compared to Florida's $21,544 median—but the earnings justify it for most students. First-year graduates earn $78,016, placing them in the 60th percentile among Florida engineering programs and just above the national median. That's competitive with larger state schools like USF ($78,825) while offering the specialized aerospace-industry connections Embry-Riddle is known for. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.32 means graduates earn back their full debt load in under four months, a manageable burden even if those industry connections take time to materialize.

The caveat here matters: with fewer than 30 graduates in the dataset, these numbers could shift significantly year to year. A bad placement year or a few outliers could skew the picture. However, the fundamentals look sound—the program sits comfortably in the middle of Florida's competitive engineering landscape, and the debt level, while higher than state peers, isn't in the alarming range that would make this a risky bet.

For families willing to pay the Embry-Riddle premium for its aerospace focus and industry network, the financial return appears reasonable. Just recognize you're banking on those specialized connections paying off, not buying into a clear value leader.