Electrical & Computer Engineering
What you'll do in college
ECE blends physics, math, and computer science. Early classes cover circuits, signals, electromagnetism, and digital logic; later you'll choose tracks like chip design, embedded systems, communications, control systems, or machine-learning hardware. Labs are central: you'll wire up real circuits, program microcontrollers, build amplifiers, and probably blow out at least one component.
Expect more math and physics than a pure CS major, but also more direct contact with the physical world. Senior design projects often involve actually building something—a robot, a wireless sensor, or a custom processor.
What you'll do after college
Grads work on the things that make modern life possible—designing chips at Apple, NVIDIA, or Intel; building wireless networks; developing sensors and robots; working on power grids; or programming embedded systems for cars and medical devices. The day-to-day mixes simulation, lab work, and meetings with manufacturing teams.
Pay is competitive with software engineering, and the field is much harder to outsource because so much of it touches physical hardware. Many grads earn graduate degrees, especially for chip design and research roles.
Famous graduates
- Steve Wozniak — Co-founder of Apple; B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences from UC Berkeley
- Eric Schmidt — Former CEO of Google; B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Princeton University
- Henry Samueli — Co-founder of Broadcom; B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA
- Jensen Huang - Co-founder of NVIDIA; B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oregon State University
- Lisa Su — CEO of AMD; B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from MIT
- Larry Page - Co-founder of Google, B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan
- Martin Eberhard - Co-founder of Tesla, B.S. in Computer Engineering from UIUC
Selectivity vs. earnings
By acceptance rate
By SAT median
Earnings vs. selectivity rank
Majors in this category
| Major | Colleges | Degrees ▼ | Male/Female | Intl | 5yr Earn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical & Computer Engineering | 399 | 22,996 | 84% / 16% | 10% | $109,769 |
| Electrical Engineering | 340 | 12,740 | 85% / 15% | 9% | $103,792 |
| Computer Engineering | 266 | 8,335 | 85% / 15% | 11% | $112,313 |
| Electrical and Computer Engineering | 27 | 1,646 | 79% / 21% | 12% | $132,855 |
| Electrical & Computer Engineering | 2 | 172 | 81% / 19% | 6% | $178,722 |
| Electrical Engineering with Computing (Course 6-5) | 1 | 58 | 59% / 41% | 3% | $184,536 |
| Computer Hardware Engineering | 2 | 19 | 84% / 16% | 11% | $148,994 |
| Computer Engineering and Systems | 1 | 12 | 100% / 0% | 0% | |
| Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering | 1 | 9 | 78% / 22% | 0% | |
| Electrical and Electronics Engineering | 5 | 5 | 80% / 20% | 0% |