Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering at University of Toledo

University of Toledo's electrical engineering program punches above its weight for an open-admission university. Starting salaries of $80,876 beat the national median by $3,000 and the Ohio state median by over $11,000—placing it in the 60th percentile statewide and 73rd nationally. That's particularly impressive given the school's 95% admission rate, and it puts Toledo graduates within striking distance of earnings from more selective Ohio programs like Cincinnati and Dayton.

The debt picture sweetens the deal. At $21,250, graduates owe about $4,000 less than both state and national medians for this major, translating to a debt-to-earnings ratio of just 0.26. Students can realistically pay off their loans in under three years if they're aggressive about it. The modest earnings growth to $88,000 by year four is steady rather than spectacular, but starting from a strong baseline matters more than dramatic later gains.

For Ohio families, this represents strong in-state value. Your child gets competitive engineering outcomes at a fraction of the cost and admissions stress of Case Western, with first-year earnings that actually exceed Ohio State's. The moderate sample size suggests a stable, established program rather than a boutique experiment.