Computer Hardware Engineering Degrees (2026 stats)
TL;DR
Computer Hardware Engineering maps to BLS occupations averaging about $121,234, with roughly 476,640 workers nationwide in those roles. Median in-state published tuition is about $11,309; common paths include Computer Hardware Engineers and Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters.
Key Statistics
Computer Hardware Engineering: what the data shows
Common questions about computer hardware engineering degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.
What is a computer hardware engineering degree?
A Computer Hardware Engineering program is classified under NCES CIP 14.0902 in the Computer Engineering field family (14.09).
A program that prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development, and evaluation of computer hardware and related peripheral equipment. Includes instruction in computer circuit and chip design, circuitry, computer systems design, computer equipment design, computer layout planning, testing procedures, and related computer theory and software topics
IPEDS counted 18 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.
Types of computer hardware engineering degrees and related programs
Other NCES program codes in the 14.09 family with pages on EDsmart Data:
- Computer Engineering, General (CIP 14.0901)
- Computer Software Engineering (CIP 14.0903)
How long does it take to get a computer hardware engineering degree?
Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.0902 in our file:
- 2 Associate (2.6% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
- 18 Bachelor's (23.4% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
- 57 Master's (74.0% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
Time to completion depends on enrollment intensity and transfer credits; figures above describe credential type, not calendar time for every student.
What degree do you need?
For Computer Hardware Engineers (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 computer hardware engineering degree?
Our degree→occupation mapping links Computer Hardware Engineering to the BLS roles below. Employment is U.S. OEWS; median wage is national May 2024 where published in our extract.
| Occupation | U.S. employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Hardware Engineers | 75,710 | $155,020 |
| Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters | 43,640 | $39,270 |
| Brickmasons and Blockmasons | 53,520 | $60,800 |
| Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians | 36,880 | $52,080 |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | 293,930 | $100,070 |
| Soil and Plant Scientists | 16,600 | $71,410 |
See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.
Is a computer hardware engineering degree worth it?
College Scorecard national medians for the Computer Engineering bachelor's program family: median debt $38,455, median earnings $109,015 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.49.
About 4.4% of graduates in this field family were not working and not enrolled one year after completion in Scorecard's national program medians.
Among schools reporting in our Scorecard extract, median published in-state tuition is $11,309 and median net price is $18,267.
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 Computer Hardware Engineering and the types of students that study this field.
Tuition Costs for Common Institutions
$11,309 Median In-State Public
$45,900 Median Out of State Private
Tuition costs for Computer Hardware Engineering majors are, on average, $11,309 for in-state public colleges, and $45,900 for out of state private colleges.
Tuition costs comparison for Computer Hardware Engineering programs.
Degrees Awarded Over Time
100,000 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023
This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Computer Hardware Engineering from 2015 to 2023.
Historical trend of degrees awarded in Computer Hardware Engineering.
Top 5 Schools by Enrollment
| # | School | State | Enrollment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern New Hampshire University | NH | 163,164 |
| 2 | Western Governors University | UT | 155,088 |
| 3 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 4 | Grand Canyon University | AZ | 73,371 |
| 5 | Arizona State University Campus Immersion | AZ | 64,674 |
Schools with the largest enrollment offering Computer Hardware Engineering programs.
Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition
| # | School | State | Tuition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amarillo College | TX | $2,136 |
| 2 | Truckee Meadows Community College | NV | $3,352 |
| 3 | Itawamba Community College | MS | $3,420 |
| 4 | Henry Ford College | MI | $3,568 |
| 5 | Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City | MO | $3,630 |
Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Computer Hardware Engineering programs.
Top 5 Lowest Net Price
| # | School | State | Net Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry Ford College | MI | $660 |
| 2 | Texas A & M International University | TX | $3,637 |
| 3 | CUNY City College | NY | $3,776 |
| 4 | CUNY City College | NY | $3,776 |
| 5 | Ohio University-Eastern Campus | OH | $3,925 |
Schools with the lowest average net price for Computer Hardware Engineering programs.
Graduation Rates
Graduation rate data is not available for this degree program.
Graduation/completion rates for Computer Hardware Engineering 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 Computer Hardware Engineering is in CA (18 completions). That state represents about 100.0% 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 CA (0.00% 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA | 18 | 100.0% | 0.00% |
Related specializations
Other NCES program codes in the 14.09 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.
- Computer Engineering, General CIP 14.0901
- Computer Software Engineering CIP 14.0903
Degree Levels (IPEDS)
Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.0902 in the survey year used in our extract (77 total across levels below).
- 2 Associate (2.6% of IPEDS total)
- 18 Bachelor's (23.4% of IPEDS total)
- 57 Master's (74.0% 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 $121,234. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Computer Hardware Engineering graduates alone.
Related occupations (BLS OEWS)
| Occupation | Mean annual wage | U.S. employment |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Hardware Engineers | $188,333 | 75,710 |
| Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters | $53,312 | 43,640 |
| Brickmasons and Blockmasons | $74,538 | 53,520 |
| Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians | $58,116 | 36,880 |
| Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products | $131,986 | 293,930 |
| Soil and Plant Scientists | $94,151 | 16,600 |
Open each occupation for full career profile charts and industry breakdowns on EDsmart Data.
Program outcomes (College Scorecard)
National medians across bachelor's programs in the Computer Engineering CIP family (35 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Computer Hardware Engineering graduate.
- $38,455 median federal loan debt among completers
- $109,015 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
- 0.49 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
- 4.4% of graduates not working and not enrolled one year out (program cohort)
Source: College Scorecard program-level outcomes aggregated by 4-digit CIP family.
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
$127,452 Average Wage in Workforce
The average salary for Computer Hardware Engineering majors is $127,452.
Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Computer Hardware Engineering majors.
Occupations by Share
476,640 2023 Workforce
The number of Computer Hardware Engineering graduates in the workforce has been growing.
Various jobs filled by those with a major in Computer Hardware Engineering by share of the total number of graduates.
Diversity
Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Computer Hardware Engineering in the United States.
Workforce Age
N/A Average Age in 2023
This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Computer Hardware Engineering.
Age distribution for Computer Hardware Engineering degree holders in the workforce.
Gender Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
18 Total Degrees Awarded
15 Male (83.33%)
3 Female (16.67%)
Gender distribution of Computer Hardware Engineering degree recipients.
Race and Ethnicity Distribution
Counts below are bachelor's-level completions only (IPEDS Completions, award level 5).
8 Asian (44.44%)
6 White (33.33%)
2 Hispanic or Latino (11.11%)
Racial and ethnic distribution of Computer Hardware Engineering degree recipients.
Degrees Awarded
The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Computer Hardware Engineering are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.
Distribution of degree types awarded in Computer Hardware Engineering.
Skills
Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Computer Hardware Engineering field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Required Skills
Computer Hardware Engineering majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.
Rating of how necessary various skills are for Computer Hardware Engineering 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 Computer Hardware Engineering majors.
About
A program that prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development, and evaluation of computer hardware and related peripheral equipment. Includes instruction in computer circuit and chip design, circuitry, computer systems design, computer equipment design, computer layout planning, testing procedures, and related computer theory and software topics
In 2023, 100,000 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Computer Hardware Engineering.
CIP Code
14.0902 - Computer Hardware Engineering
What the data shows
At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $38,455 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $109,015, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.49. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Computer Hardware Engineering graduate.
Men earned 22.5% of 80 Computer Hardware Engineering completions in the IPEDS file used here.
Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $121,234. The largest mapped role by headcount is Computer Hardware Engineers (75,710 U.S. jobs in OEWS).
Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $11,309 in-state at public colleges and $45,900 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.