UCLA Computer Engineering Degree Ranks Among Top 10 Most Lucrative in US
New analysis highlights the significant return on investment for graduates of certain university programs.
Graduates from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in Computer Engineering are among the highest earners in the United States, according to a new analysis by the HEA Group. The median income for these graduates is $228,705, placing the program sixth on the list of the most lucrative undergraduate degrees nationwide.
This finding highlights a strong return on investment for students attending UCLA, where annual costs for California residents are approximately $45,500 and $87,770 for nonresidents, encompassing tuition, housing, transportation, food, and books. The analysis considered the salaries of students who received federal financial aid and graduated between the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 academic years.
Another California institution, Pomona College, also features prominently on the list. Computer Science majors at the Claremont-based liberal arts college earn a median salary of $217,051. Pomona College, with an acceptance rate of 7%, has annual costs exceeding $90,000.
Nationally, Mathematics graduates from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, topped the earnings chart with a median salary of $297,029. The top 10 list was predominantly populated by East Coast institutions. Computer Science graduates from Stanford University reported a median income of $214,907, while those from the University of California, Berkeley, earned $204,379.
Beyond technology fields, graduates from nursing programs at several California universities, including California State University, East Bay, San Francisco State University, and Samuel Merritt University, are achieving median annual earnings of around $150,000. These nursing programs rank among the top 100 out of nearly 25,000 bachelor's programs evaluated by the HEA Group.
The analysis comes amid rising tuition costs at many universities, with some exceeding $100,000 annually. A 2024 survey indicated that only 33% of students surveyed believe college provides good value for its cost, with 29% disagreeing.