TL;DR

Engineering Technology, General maps to BLS occupations averaging about $114,867, with roughly 69,280 workers nationwide in those roles. About 92,051 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 56%.

Key Statistics

92,051
Total Degrees Awarded (2023)
$4,904
Median In-State Public Tuition
$33,250
Median Out-of-State Private Tuition
$114,867
Avg. Wage (related occupations)
69,280
Workers (related occupations)
55.9%
Median Graduation Rate (4-yr schools)
92,051
Bachelor's Completions (IPEDS 2023)

Engineering Technology, General: what the data shows

Common questions about engineering technology, general degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a engineering technology, general degree?

A Engineering Technology, General program is classified under NCES CIP 13.15 in the Teaching Assistants/Aides field family (13.15).

Instructional content for this group of programs is defined in codes 13.1501 - 13.1599.

IPEDS counted 92,051 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

How long does it take to get a engineering technology, general degree?

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 13.15 in our file:

  • 17,944 Associate (6.8% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
  • 92,051 Bachelor's (34.8% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
  • 144,856 Master's (54.8% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
  • 9,693 Doctorate (3.7% of IPEDS total)—varies by program

Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.

What do you learn in engineering technology, general?

O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Equipment Maintenance, Repairing, Troubleshooting, Operations Monitoring, Quality Control Analysis, Complex Problem Solving, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.

What degree do you need?

For Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians (top mapped occupation), O*NET incumbent surveys in our career profile report these education credentials most often: Some college (29%), High School or Equivalent (27%), Bachelors Degree (22%).

O*NET education distributions describe incumbent workers, not minimum legal or employer requirements.

What jobs can you get with a engineering technology, general degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Engineering Technology, General to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.

OccupationU.S. employmentMedian annual wage
Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians136,390$78,680
Computer Hardware Engineers75,710$155,020
Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters43,640$39,270
Brickmasons and Blockmasons53,520$60,800
Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians36,880$52,080
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products293,930$100,070

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a engineering technology, general degree worth it?

Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $4,904 and median net price is $7,991.

We do not score "worth" on opinion—compare debt, earnings, wages for mapped occupations, and completion data above against your cost and career target.

Institutions

Information about the types of higher education institutions that grant degrees in Engineering Technology, General and the types of students that study this field.

Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$4,904 Median In-State Public

$33,250 Median Out of State Private

Tuition costs for Engineering Technology, General majors are, on average, $4,904 for in-state public colleges, and $33,250 for out of state private colleges.

Tuition costs comparison for Engineering Technology, General programs.

Institutions awarding the most Engineering Technology, General degrees

IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), all award levels for this CIP in our extract.

Degrees Awarded Over Time

92,051 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Engineering Technology, General from 2015 to 2023.

Historical trend of degrees awarded in Engineering Technology, General.

Top 5 Schools by Enrollment

Schools with the largest enrollment offering Engineering Technology, General programs.

Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition

# School State Tuition
1 Antelope Valley Community College District CA $1,124
2 Imperial Valley College CA $1,126
3 Compton College CA $1,142
4 Allan Hancock College CA $1,156
5 Sierra College CA $1,156

Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Engineering Technology, General programs.

Top 5 Lowest Net Price

# School State Net Price
1 Coastal Pines Technical College GA $124
2 Henry Ford College MI $576
3 Cerritos College CA $693
4 Moorpark College CA $742
5 Chipola College FL $832

Schools with the lowest average net price for Engineering Technology, General programs.

Graduation Rates

55.85% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)

55.03% Average Graduation Rate

219 Institutions Reporting

36.81% - 68.84% Interquartile Range

Graduation/completion rates for Engineering Technology, General programs across institutions.

Where students complete this major (IPEDS)

Bachelor's-level completions (IPEDS Completions, award level 5) summed by institution state. State is taken from IPEDS Directory (HD2023) for each reporting institution.

Geographic concentration

The largest number of reported bachelor's completions for Engineering Technology, General is in UT (6,930 completions). That state represents about 7.5% of U.S. bachelor's completions reported for this CIP in the IPEDS file we use.

Among states, the highest concentration relative to all bachelor's degrees awarded in-state is MH (50.00% of that state's bachelor's completions).

Top states by count of bachelor's completions for this CIP (IPEDS).

State Bachelor's completions (this CIP) % of U.S. total (this CIP) % of state's all bachelor's
UT6,9307.5%6.42%
NY5,3035.8%1.92%
CA5,2515.7%1.17%
TX4,5895.0%1.57%
OH4,3334.7%3.13%
PA4,0694.4%2.38%
IL3,8514.2%2.78%
AZ3,5773.9%2.58%
FL3,5673.9%1.56%
GA2,9033.1%2.54%
MI2,8023.0%2.44%
WI2,6292.9%3.46%
MO2,4702.7%3.46%
IN2,3832.6%2.31%
NC2,3272.5%1.88%
MN2,2792.5%2.67%
IA2,0922.3%4.39%
VA2,0702.2%1.69%

Degree Levels (IPEDS)

Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 13.15 in the survey year used in our extract (264,544 total across levels below).

  • 17,944 Associate (6.8% of IPEDS total)
  • 92,051 Bachelor's (34.8% of IPEDS total)
  • 144,856 Master's (54.8% of IPEDS total)
  • 9,693 Doctorate (3.7% of IPEDS total)

Source: IPEDS Completions (c2024_a), summed by award level for this CIP.

Careers & Jobs

Occupations linked to this major in our degree→career mapping, with wages and employment from processed BLS career profiles in this repo.

Across these BLS occupations, employment-weighted mean pay is about $114,867. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Engineering Technology, General graduates alone.

Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.

Employment

Wages and industry mix below use BLS OEWS data for occupations linked to this major in our mapping—not a graduate earnings survey.

Yearly Income for Common Jobs

$136,006 Average Wage in Workforce

The average salary for Engineering Technology, General majors is $136,006.

Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Engineering Technology, General majors.

Occupations by Share

69,280 2023 Workforce

The number of Engineering Technology, General graduates in the workforce has been growing.

Various jobs filled by those with a major in Engineering Technology, General by share of the total number of graduates.

Return on Investment & Value

Debt and earnings fields below come from College Scorecard where present in our degree extract.

Financial value (extract)

$40,968 Median Annual Earnings (10 years after enrollment)

1181.69% Return on Investment (10-year earnings vs 4-year cost)

Ten-year earnings in this extract exceed four years of median net price.

$31,964 Estimated Total Cost (4 years at median net price)

Financial value comparison for Engineering Technology, General degree.

Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Engineering Technology, General in the United States.

Workforce Age

N/A Average Age in 2023

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Engineering Technology, General.

Age distribution for Engineering Technology, General degree holders in the workforce.

Gender Distribution

Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).

92,051 Total Degrees Awarded

15,725 Male (17.08%)

76,326 Female (82.92%)

Gender distribution of Engineering Technology, General degree recipients.

Race and Ethnicity Distribution

Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).

62,205 White (67.58%)

14,511 Hispanic or Latino (15.76%)

6,039 Black or African American (6.56%)

2,838 Two or More Races (3.08%)

2,463 Asian (2.68%)

Racial and ethnic distribution of Engineering Technology, General degree recipients.

Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Engineering Technology, General are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.

Distribution of degree types awarded in Engineering Technology, General.

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Engineering Technology, General field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Required Skills

Engineering Technology, General majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.

Rating of how necessary various skills are for Engineering Technology, General majors.

Skills Bar Chart

This bar chart shows the same information as the radar chart, displaying the importance of each skill.

Skill importance ratings for Engineering Technology, General majors.

About

Instructional content for this group of programs is defined in codes 13.1501 - 13.1599.

In 2023, 92,051 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Engineering Technology, General.

CIP Code

13.15 - Engineering Technology, General

What the data shows

Women earned 81.1% of 317,436 Engineering Technology, General completions in the IPEDS file used here.

Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $114,867. The largest mapped role by headcount is Aircraft Mechanics and Service Technicians (136,390 U.S. jobs in OEWS).

Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $4,904 in-state at public colleges and $33,250 at private institutions for programs in this field.

Data Sources

This page uses data from the following sources:

  • College Scorecard - U.S. Department of Education
    • Institutional characteristics, costs, completion rates, and earnings data
    • Data years: 2015-2024
    • Source: collegescorecard.ed.gov
  • Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)
    • Employment and wage data by occupation
    • Latest data: May 2024
    • Source: bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET Online - U.S. Department of Labor
    • Occupational skills, knowledge, abilities, and work activities
    • Database version: 28.0 (August 2023)
    • Source: onetcenter.org
  • IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) - National Center for Education Statistics
    • Institutional data, completions, enrollment, and financial aid
    • Data years: 2015-2024
    • Source: nces.ed.gov/ipeds
  • Census Bureau American Community Survey (ACS)
    • Demographic and workforce data
    • Latest data: 2023 ACS 5-Year Estimates
    • Source: census.gov/acs

Data Processing: All data has been processed, cleaned, and aggregated for presentation. Where specific data points are unavailable, estimates are based on available data and clearly marked.

Last Updated: Data reflects the most recent available information as of January 2025.

Methodology

Data for this profile is sourced from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard dataset, IPEDS completion data, and Bureau of Labor Statistics employment data.

All financial figures are adjusted for inflation and represent the most recent available data. Employment and wage data are from the most recent Census Bureau ACS PUMS estimates.