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Energy & Mining Engineering

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

These majors prepare you to find, extract, and convert energy—oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and increasingly renewables. You'll take physics, chemistry, geology, thermodynamics, and specialized classes in well design, reservoir engineering, or mine planning.

Field trips and labs are common: you might log a real well, model a mine, or tour a drilling operation. Petroleum and mining programs spend significant time on geology and field operations.

What you'll do after college

Grads work at oil and gas companies, mining firms, electric utilities, and a growing number of clean-energy startups. The work can take you anywhere from offshore rigs to remote mines to research labs.

Pay is among the highest in engineering, but the industries are cyclical—booming one year and laying people off the next. The energy transition is reshaping the field as more grads work on geothermal and hydrogen.

Famous graduates

  • Herbert Hoover — 31st U.S. President; B.A. in Geology and Mining from Stanford University
  • George P. Mitchell — Pioneer of shale gas extraction; B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$94,504
198
100–80%
$101,753
429
78–52%
$108,409
177
29–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$94,015
174
400–1180
$102,225
380
1190–1360
$107,144
188
1370–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$82,657p10 $110,398p90 Military STEM Non-Research Public University Religious University Private University Public University 1–25 Private University 1–20 Massachusetts Maritime Academy · $100,651 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology · $82,838 Texas A&M International University · $77,341 Pennsylvania State University · $96,749 Mississippi State University · $86,580 University of Alaska - Fairbanks · $88,604 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $95,074 University of Texas Permian Basin · $99,276 University of Houston · $88,652 Texas Tech University · $116,140 Louisiana State University · $93,513 Missouri University of Science and Technology · $85,722 Oregon Institute of Technology · $90,849 Texas A&M University - Kingsville · $75,920 University of Oklahoma - Norman · $100,791 Michigan Technological University · $82,657 University of Mississippi · $85,652 University of Louisiana at Lafayette · $110,398 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania · $82,531 University of North Dakota · $94,622 University of Utah · $94,980 Indiana University - Indianapolis · $95,772 Montana Technological University · $101,766 University of Arizona · $102,825 University of Nevada, Reno · $86,428 West Virginia University · $92,604 University of Kansas · $93,860 University of Kentucky · $85,709 University of Wyoming · $106,473 New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology · $94,796 Saint Francis University · $87,979 University of Tulsa · $104,091 Alfred University · $78,512 Marietta College · $93,979 University of California, Berkeley · $120,217 Colorado School of Mines · $99,617 University of Texas at Austin · $120,605 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $86,070 Texas A&M University - College Station · $125,028 Virginia Tech · $96,761 Stanford University · $109,033 Military: mean $100,651 STEM Non-Research: mean $82,838 Public University: mean $93,082 Religious University: mean $96,035 Private University: mean $86,246 Public University 1–25: mean $108,050 Private University 1–20: mean $109,033 All colleges: p10 $82,657 All colleges: p90 $110,398
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Energy & Mining Engineering 41 804 78% / 22% 22% $95,704 96%
Petroleum Engineering 25 488 81% / 19% 28% $97,851 96%
Mining Engineering 14 151 82% / 18% 12% $94,366 98%
Geological Engineering 13 111 60% / 40% 11% $87,175 97%
Energy Systems Engineering 5 43 77% / 23% 14% $92,305
Energy Engineering 1 9 33% / 67% 11% $120,217
Energy Science and Engineering 1 2 50% / 50% 0% $109,033