TL;DR

Computer Engineering, General maps to BLS occupations averaging about $64,987, with roughly 1,596,050 workers nationwide in those roles. About 9,386 bachelor's completions in IPEDS 2023; median program completion runs near 62%.

Key Statistics

9,386
Total Degrees Awarded (2023)
$7,540
Median In-State Public Tuition
$36,030
Median Out-of-State Private Tuition
$64,987
Avg. Wage (related occupations)
1,596,050
Workers (related occupations)
61.8%
Median Graduation Rate (4-yr schools)
9,386
Bachelor's Completions (IPEDS 2023)

Computer Engineering, General: what the data shows

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

What is a computer engineering, general degree?

A Computer Engineering, General program is classified under NCES CIP 14.0901 in the Computer Engineering field family (14.09).

A program that generally prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development and operational evaluation of computer hardware and software systems and related equipment and facilities; and the analysis of specific problems of computer applications to various tasks

IPEDS counted 9,386 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of computer engineering, general degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 14.09 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

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

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.0901 in our file:

  • 35 Associate (0.3% of IPEDS total)—about two years of full-time study
  • 9,386 Bachelor's (72.2% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
  • 3,575 Master's (27.5% 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 do you learn in computer engineering, general?

O*NET skill ratings for occupations mapped to this major emphasize Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Writing, Critical Thinking, Service Orientation, and related competencies. See the Skills section for the full list in our extract.

What degree do you need?

For Teachers, Postsecondary (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%). Bachelor's awards account for a majority of IPEDS completions for CIP 14.0901, but occupation data show multiple pathways.

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

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

Our degree→occupation mapping links Computer Engineering, 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
Teachers, Postsecondary1,500,000
Secondary School Teachers1,072,540$64,580

See Careers & Jobs for mean wages and industry context.

Is a computer engineering, general 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 $7,540 and median net price is $17,622.

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 Engineering, General and the types of students that study this field.

Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$7,540 Median In-State Public

$36,030 Median Out of State Private

Tuition costs for Computer Engineering, General majors are, on average, $7,540 for in-state public colleges, and $36,030 for out of state private colleges.

Tuition costs comparison for Computer Engineering, General programs.

Degrees Awarded Over Time

9,386 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023

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

Historical trend of degrees awarded in Computer Engineering, General.

Top 5 Schools by Enrollment

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

Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition

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

Top 5 Lowest Net Price

# School State Net Price
1 Canada College CA $10
2 College of the Sequoias CA $29
3 Coahoma Community College MS $560
4 Henry Ford College MI $576
5 Oxnard College CA $659

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

Graduation Rates

61.76% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)

60.67% Average Graduation Rate

485 Institutions Reporting

49.33% - 73.06% Interquartile Range

Graduation/completion rates for Computer Engineering, 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 Computer Engineering, General is in CA (1,846 completions). That state represents about 19.7% 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 OH (0.51% 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
CA1,84619.7%0.41%
OH7097.5%0.51%
TX6286.7%0.21%
IL5395.7%0.39%
IN5145.5%0.50%
FL4985.3%0.22%
MA3814.1%0.30%
MI3663.9%0.32%
NY3593.8%0.13%
VA3583.8%0.29%
NC3553.8%0.29%
PA3193.4%0.19%
GA2752.9%0.24%
WI1681.8%0.22%
MD1471.6%0.20%
NJ1281.4%0.15%
IA1191.3%0.25%
KY1191.3%0.23%

Related specializations

Other NCES program codes in the 14.09 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.

Degree Levels (IPEDS)

Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 14.0901 in the survey year used in our extract (12,996 total across levels below).

  • 35 Associate (0.3% of IPEDS total)
  • 9,386 Bachelor's (72.2% of IPEDS total)
  • 3,575 Master's (27.5% 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 $64,987. Figures are national OEWS estimates for the occupation—not earnings of Computer Engineering, General graduates alone.

Related occupations (BLS OEWS)

Occupation Mean annual wage U.S. employment
Teachers, Postsecondary$36,5111,500,000
Secondary School Teachers$104,8131,072,540

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 Engineering, General 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

$40,621 Average Wage in Workforce

The average salary for Computer Engineering, General majors is $40,621.

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

Occupations by Share

1,596,050 2023 Workforce

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

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

Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Computer Engineering, 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 Computer Engineering, General.

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

Gender Distribution

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

9,386 Total Degrees Awarded

7,984 Male (85.06%)

1,402 Female (14.94%)

Gender distribution of Computer Engineering, General degree recipients.

Race and Ethnicity Distribution

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

3,783 White (40.30%)

2,186 Asian (23.29%)

1,270 Hispanic or Latino (13.53%)

497 Black or African American (5.30%)

391 Two or More Races (4.17%)

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

Degrees Awarded

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

Distribution of degree types awarded in Computer Engineering, General.

Skills

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

Required Skills

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

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

About

A program that generally prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development and operational evaluation of computer hardware and software systems and related equipment and facilities; and the analysis of specific problems of computer applications to various tasks

In 2023, 9,386 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Computer Engineering, General.

CIP Code

14.0901 - Computer Engineering, General

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 Engineering, General graduate.

Men earned 17.7% of 13,508 Computer Engineering, General completions in the IPEDS file used here.

Mapped BLS occupations show employment-weighted mean pay of about $64,987. The largest mapped role by headcount is Teachers, Postsecondary (1,500,000 U.S. jobs in OEWS).

Published tuition medians in College Scorecard land at $7,540 in-state at public colleges and $36,030 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.