Engineering at Northeastern University

Northeastern's engineering program delivers solid but not exceptional returns for a school with such selective admissions. That $75,253 first-year salary trails the state median by about $1,000 and lands well below what Massachusetts Maritime Academy grads earn—surprising given Northeastern's 6% admission rate and near-perfect SAT scores. You'd expect a school this selective to place higher than the 40th percentile among Massachusetts engineering programs.

The financial fundamentals work, though. With $22,512 in typical debt and strong starting earnings, graduates face a manageable 0.30 debt-to-earnings ratio. That's textbook sustainable. The program does outperform the national median by about $2,400, so it's competitive with engineering programs nationwide—just not particularly special within Massachusetts, where the competition includes strong state schools and specialized technical institutions.

For families paying Northeastern's premium tuition (note that only 12% of students receive Pell grants), this becomes a question of fit versus pure ROI. The co-op program and Boston networking might justify the investment if those align with your child's goals. But if you're comparing purely on earnings potential and have in-state options, the numbers suggest Northeastern's engineering graduates aren't significantly outearning peers from less selective Massachusetts programs despite the prestigious name.