Biomedical/Medical Engineering at Widener University

Widener's biomedical engineering graduates earn $68,762 in their first year—above the national median but below most Pennsylvania competitors. While that 66th percentile nationally sounds solid, Pennsylvania's biomedical engineering programs are unusually strong, and Widener sits at just the 40th percentile statewide. You're paying similar tuition to nearby programs like Drexel ($74,860) and Lehigh ($72,440), but seeing notably lower starting salaries. The $6,000+ gap might not sound dramatic, but it compounds over a career.

The positive story here is debt management: $27,000 is exactly the state median and lands in the 5th percentile nationally—meaning 95% of biomedical engineering programs saddle students with more debt. With a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.39, graduates can realistically pay this off within 4-5 years on an engineer's salary. That's manageable, though the small sample size (under 30 graduates) means these numbers could shift significantly year to year.

For families choosing between Pennsylvania programs, Widener offers middle-of-the-road outcomes at what's likely middle-of-the-road cost. If your child has the academic profile for Penn or Lehigh, those investments would pay off faster. But compared to national biomedical engineering programs, Widener provides decent value—you're just not getting the premium earnings boost that Pennsylvania's top-tier engineering schools deliver.