Civil Engineering at Merrimack College

Merrimack's civil engineering graduates start at $75,556—nearly $6,000 above the national median and competitive with Massachusetts' elite engineering programs. While the state percentile ranking of 60th might seem modest, context matters: Merrimack essentially matches earnings at Worcester Polytechnic and Northeastern (both around $76,400) and beats UMass-Amherst by nearly $6,000. For a school with a 74% admission rate, these outcomes punch well above their weight class.

The $27,000 median debt sits right at Massachusetts' program average but notably below the national 75th percentile for engineering debt. That 0.36 debt-to-earnings ratio means graduates owe roughly what they'll earn in four months—manageable by any standard. Civil engineering's stable career trajectory makes this debt load even less concerning, as salaries typically grow steadily throughout one's career.

The caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so individual experiences may vary more than at larger programs. But even accounting for small-sample volatility, the fundamentals look solid—strong starting salaries at reasonable debt levels from a program that seems to deliver outcomes comparable to much more selective competitors.