Mechanical Engineering at Loyola Marymount University

LMU's mechanical engineering program shows unusually low starting salaries compared to California's robust engineering landscape, with first-year earnings of $60,798 placing it in just the 25th percentile statewide—significantly below the state median of $72,436. When graduates from Cal Poly SLO start at $83,011 and even Cal Maritime grads earn $92,315, this $12,000-$30,000 gap is substantial. By year four, earnings do jump to $88,760, suggesting graduates eventually find their footing, but that slow start matters when you're carrying debt.

The manageable $21,000 debt load helps offset the earnings concern somewhat, creating a debt-to-income ratio of 0.35 that won't crush recent graduates. However, the small sample size here (under 30 graduates) means these numbers could swing dramatically year to year—we're not seeing the stable patterns you'd expect from a larger program. This matters for a family making a four-year financial commitment.

For a private university charging premium tuition, these outcomes raise questions about competitive positioning. If your child has options at UC schools or Cal Poly (which offer better earnings at lower cost), those become hard to pass up. LMU might make sense if the smaller program size, Los Angeles location, or campus culture provide specific value your family prioritizes, but purely on financial returns, California's public engineering programs deliver stronger results.