Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering at Georgia Southern University

Georgia Southern's electrical engineering program delivers solid entry-level salaries ($75,859) with manageable debt ($27,000), though graduates start slightly below the national median for this field. The key insight here: among Georgia's four engineering programs, this ranks at the 60th percentile—better than UGA but trailing Georgia Tech by about $11,000. That gap matters less than it might seem, given the dramatically different admission selectivity and likely in-state tuition advantage for most students.

The debt picture is genuinely attractive. At just 0.36 times first-year earnings, graduates face one of the lowest debt burdens in engineering nationally (25th percentile). A $27,000 loan against a $75,000+ starting salary is highly manageable. The 7% earnings growth to year four suggests steady career progression, though not the explosive trajectory some top engineering programs show.

For Georgia families, this represents accessible engineering education that produces employable graduates. You're not getting Georgia Tech outcomes, but you're also working with a 90% admission rate versus Tech's hyper-competitive entry. The moderate sample size (30-100 graduates) does suggest a smaller program, which could mean less corporate recruiting infrastructure but more individualized attention. If your child can gain admission to Georgia Tech, that's the better financial bet—but for most Georgia students, Southern offers a viable path into engineering careers without crushing debt.