Materials Engineering at Michigan Technological University

Michigan Tech's materials engineering program produces earnings significantly below what you'd expect from this field—graduates start at $63,135, roughly $11,000 less than the national median and about $12,000 behind Michigan State's materials engineering program. While 28% earnings growth over four years is respectable, even at the four-year mark ($81,000), graduates are just catching up to where many peers start. At the 5th percentile nationally, this program ranks near the bottom among the 63 schools offering materials engineering.

The debt picture is more reasonable—$27,000 matches Michigan's median for this major and sits at just 25th percentile nationally (meaning lower than most). This creates a manageable debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.43, so graduates aren't financially burdened even with below-average starting salaries. However, materials engineering is typically a high-earning field precisely because it's technically demanding, and Michigan Tech's outcomes suggest something isn't translating from classroom to career.

The critical caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, so it may not represent typical outcomes. But if these numbers hold, parents should question why this program underperforms both state rivals and the national field by such wide margins. Unless your child has specific reasons to attend Michigan Tech—location, research opportunities, scholarship money—the earnings gap compared to Michigan State or U-M makes those alternatives worth serious consideration for this particular major.