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Chemical Engineering

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

Chemical engineers learn to design processes that turn raw materials into useful products at industrial scale—everything from gasoline and plastics to drugs and food. Coursework includes thermodynamics, reaction engineering, transport phenomena (heat and mass flow), separations, and process design. The major has a reputation for being one of the hardest engineering disciplines because of the heavy combination of math, physics, and chemistry.

Labs let you run mini-versions of industrial processes, and many programs include co-ops at chemical or pharmaceutical plants where you spend a semester working full-time at a real factory.

What you'll do after college

Grads work in oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, food and consumer products, biotech, and increasingly clean energy and battery manufacturing. Day-to-day work involves designing or improving processes, troubleshooting equipment, and figuring out how to make production safer, cheaper, and cleaner.

Starting salaries are among the highest of any engineering major, and many grads work at large industrial sites or research labs. Many move into management or consulting after a decade.

Famous graduates

  • Mae Jemison — First Black woman to travel in space; B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Stanford University
  • Andrew Grove — Former CEO of Intel; B.S. in Chemical Engineering from CCNY
  • Jack Welch — Former CEO of General Electric; B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UMass Amherst

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$101,407
1,104
100–84%
$104,728
2,603
84–58%
$105,396
2,726
58–17%
$111,739
1,115
15–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$105,967
970
400–1180
$105,308
2,327
1190–1340
$106,414
2,327
1340–1460
$111,358
976
1460–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings by acceptance rate and institution category

$90,993p10 $117,642p90 STEM, Business & Military Liberal Arts Public University Religious University Private University 20–30% 10–20% 0–10% Stevens Institute of Technology · $103,760 Florida Institute of Technology · $95,887 Worcester Polytechnic Institute · $99,542 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute · $99,042 SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry · $91,204 Rochester Institute of Technology · $98,118 Milwaukee School of Engineering · $85,917 Kettering University · $106,549 New Jersey Institute of Technology · $95,266 Cal Poly - Pomona · $91,519 Clarkson University · $89,773 Missouri University of Science and Technology · $102,304 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology · $99,698 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology · $101,958 Michigan Technological University · $99,826 New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology · $101,157 Lafayette College · $105,982 Bucknell University · $119,712 Dordt University · $95,433 University of Georgia · $113,453 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · $107,494 University of California, Santa Barbara · $102,894 North Carolina State University · $113,537 University of South Florida · $93,633 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $106,436 University of Tennessee, Knoxville · $104,594 University of Washington · $90,855 Clemson University · $103,457 Purdue University · $113,236 University of Maryland, Baltimore County · $103,196 University of Maryland, College Park · $99,723 Cal State Long Beach · $85,396 University of California, Davis · $98,704 Auburn University · $112,526 Stony Brook University · $91,965 Ohio State University · $104,686 North Carolina A&T State University · $126,553 Texas A&M University - College Station · $117,437 University of Connecticut · $94,194 Virginia Tech · $107,454 Pennsylvania State University · $105,929 University of South Carolina · $103,072 New Mexico State University · $102,589 CUNY City College · $82,866 University of Pittsburgh · $105,260 University of Massachusetts - Amherst · $101,619 University of New Mexico · $103,634 West Virginia University Institute of Technology · $107,920 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $95,094 University of Texas Permian Basin · $98,578 Rutgers University - New Brunswick · $107,347 McNeese State University · $108,419 Texas Tech University · $109,558 University of Colorado Boulder · $97,278 Louisiana State University · $127,476 University of Alabama · $117,642 University of Delaware · $104,787 University of Tennessee, Chattanooga · $102,111 Louisiana Tech University · $123,422 Oklahoma State University · $126,216 University of Arkansas · $117,144 Miami University - Ohio · $109,837 University of Alabama in Huntsville · $105,855 University of Rhode Island · $103,198 University of Idaho · $102,753 University of Louisville · $112,953 University of Houston · $120,709 University of Illinois Chicago · $100,161 Rowan University · $91,968 Prairie View A&M University · $103,213 University of Missouri · $102,049 University of Oklahoma - Norman · $105,905 University of Louisiana at Lafayette · $120,808 University of New Hampshire · $90,993 Youngstown State University · $97,569 Oregon State University · $96,666 Tennessee Technological University · $90,943 University of Iowa · $104,478 University of Nebraska, Lincoln · $103,448 University of Toledo · $99,094 San Jose State University · $101,951 University at Buffalo · $94,300 University of North Dakota · $105,891 University of Utah · $98,501 Western Michigan University · $97,072 University of Nevada, Reno · $92,832 Michigan State University · $107,858 Lamar University · $123,555 University of Arizona · $103,420 Mississippi State University · $120,839 Wayne State University · $96,222 University of Akron · $102,014 University of Maine · $104,567 University of Massachusetts - Lowell · $92,292 West Virginia University · $106,640 Ohio University · $100,119 University of California, Riverside · $85,999 Washington State University · $105,514 Iowa State University · $101,217 University of Cincinnati · $105,823 Arizona State University · $104,655 Cleveland State University · $103,412 Colorado State University - Fort Collins · $95,320 University of Minnesota - Duluth · $101,101 University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point · $113,753 Texas A&M University - Kingsville · $107,545 University of Texas at San Antonio · $98,005 University of Kansas · $113,482 Virginia Commonwealth University · $100,241 University of Kentucky · $98,999 University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown · $108,508 University of South Alabama · $112,348 University of Texas at Tyler · $106,156 Kansas State University · $104,046 University of Wyoming · $90,404 University of Mississippi · $102,580 Montana State University · $93,543 University of Dayton · $105,832 Manhattan University · $93,329 Brigham Young University · $112,488 California Baptist University · $85,515 University of Tulsa · $115,496 Christian Brothers University · $97,570 Benedictine College · $104,472 Case Western Reserve University · $100,145 University of Rochester · $101,716 Howard University · $73,844 Tuskegee University · $90,379 Syracuse University · $99,851 Illinois Institute of Technology · $104,085 University of New Haven · $85,961 Hampton University · $98,461 Trine University · $94,883 Drexel University · $107,723 Widener University · $85,635 Lehigh University · $112,922 University of Florida · $102,918 Florida State University · $108,390 University of Texas at Austin · $119,303 University of California, San Diego · $89,504 University of California, Irvine · $84,224 Villanova University · $111,441 Colorado School of Mines · $100,494 Tufts University · $108,618 Carnegie Mellon University · $132,461 University of Southern California · $101,320 Washington University in St Louis · $121,193 Tulane University · $100,978 Northeastern University · $112,445 University of California, Berkeley · $107,129 Georgia Tech · $112,763 University of Virginia · $106,389 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor · $114,503 Florida A&M University · $87,570 Cooper Union · $107,768 United States Military Academy · $100,446 Yale University · $115,091 Caltech · $121,335 Stanford University · $120,504 Princeton University · $112,275 MIT · $132,443 Columbia University · $120,754 University of Pennsylvania · $111,031 Vanderbilt University · $131,121 Johns Hopkins University · $112,509 Brown University · $114,652 Northwestern University · $112,366 Rice University · $115,870 Cornell University · $114,933 New York University · $86,373 UCLA · $102,239 University of Notre Dame · $114,086 STEM, Business & Military: mean $97,595 Liberal Arts: mean $107,042 Public University: mean $104,109 Religious University: mean $102,100 Private University: mean $94,789 20–30%: mean $103,650 10–20%: mean $108,737 0–10%: mean $114,849 All colleges: p10 $90,993 All colleges: p90 $117,642
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Chemical Engineering 173 7,548 58% / 42% 7% $104,065 97%
Chemical Engineering 163 6,949 59% / 41% 7% $103,878 97%
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering 6 279 49% / 51% 16% $106,368 99%
Biochemical Engineering 3 191 50% / 50% 12% $105,318 96%
Chemical and Biological Engineering 1 32 41% / 59% 12% $112,275
Chemical and Molecular Engineering 1 28 64% / 36% 0% $91,965 97%
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering 1 25 40% / 60% 4% $90,390 96%
Chemical Engineering (Course 10) 1 22 32% / 68% 5% $132,443 97%
Biotechnology 1 10 50% / 50% 10% $99,164
Chemical-Biological Engineering (Course 10-B) 1 10 30% / 70% 0% $132,443 97%
Chemical Engineering (Nanoscience and Molecular Engineering Track) 1 2 100% / 0% 50% $90,855 96%