Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering at State University of New York at New Paltz

SUNY New Paltz's electrical engineering graduates start at $72,238—about $6,000 below both the national and New York state medians for this degree. While the program sits at the 40th percentile among New York's 27 engineering programs, that still means roughly half the schools in the state deliver better initial outcomes. The debt burden is manageable at $25,125, creating a reasonable 0.35 debt-to-earnings ratio, but it doesn't offset the lower starting salaries.

The 19% earnings growth to $85,742 by year four is solid and helps narrow the gap with stronger programs. However, this still trails elite New York options like Cornell ($100,516) and Syracuse ($84,494) by significant margins. For a moderately selective SUNY campus, these outcomes suggest the engineering program doesn't punch at the same weight as the institution's other offerings might.

The critical caveat: this data comes from fewer than 30 graduates, making it statistically fragile. A few outliers could skew these numbers considerably. If your child is committed to electrical engineering and wants the SUNY system's affordability, this could work—but compare carefully against other SUNY engineering campuses like Stony Brook or Buffalo, which typically show stronger outcomes in technical fields. The modest debt is the clearest advantage here.