Executive Summary (TL;DR)

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians maps to BLS occupations averaging about $114,867, with roughly 69,280 workers nationwide in those roles. About 2,455 degrees completed in recent IPEDS counts; median in-state published tuition is about $5,042.

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians: what the data shows

Common questions about mechanical engineering related technologies/technicians degrees, answered from IPEDS, College Scorecard, BLS OEWS, and O*NET in this repository—not program marketing copy.

What is a mechanical engineering related technologies/technicians degree?

A Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians program is classified under NCES CIP 15.0800 in the Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians field family (00.15).

IPEDS counted 2,455 completions for this CIP in the survey year in our extract.

Types of mechanical engineering related technologies/technicians degrees and related programs

Other NCES program codes in the 00.15 family with pages on EDsmart Data:

How long does it take to get a mechanical engineering related technologies/technicians degree?

Award levels reported to IPEDS for CIP 15.0800 in our file:

  • 360 Bachelor's (16.6% of IPEDS total)—typically four years
  • 1,616 Master's (74.6% of IPEDS total)—one to two years beyond a bachelor's
  • 190 Doctorate (8.8% 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 mechanical engineering related technologies/technicians?

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 jobs can you get with a mechanical engineering related technologies/technicians degree?

Our degree→occupation mapping links Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians 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 mechanical engineering related technologies/technicians degree worth it?

College Scorecard national medians for the Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians bachelor's program family: median debt $24,636, median earnings $82,073 four years after enrollment. Debt-to-earnings proxy: 0.39.

About 2.2% 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 $5,042 and median net price is $8,892.

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 Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians and the types of students that study this field.

Tuition Costs for Common Institutions

$5,042 Median In-State Public

$29,778 Median Out of State Private

Tuition costs for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians majors are, on average, $5,042 for in-state public colleges, and $29,778 for out of state private colleges.

Tuition costs comparison for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians programs.

Degrees Awarded Over Time

2,455 Total Degrees Awarded in 2023

This chart shows the number of degrees awarded in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians from 2015 to 2023.

Historical trend of degrees awarded in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians.

Top 5 Schools by Enrollment

Schools with the largest enrollment offering Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians programs.

Top 5 Most Affordable Tuition

# School State Tuition
1 Barstow Community College CA $1,104
2 Laney College CA $1,148
3 Fullerton College CA $1,150
4 Santiago Canyon College CA $1,164
5 Solano Community College CA $1,172

Schools with the lowest tuition costs for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians programs.

Top 5 Lowest Net Price

Schools with the lowest average net price for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians programs.

Graduation Rates

53.02% Median Graduation Rate (150% of normal time)

54.24% Average Graduation Rate

140 Institutions Reporting

41.74% - 65.96% Interquartile Range

Graduation/completion rates for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians programs across institutions.

Related specializations

Other NCES program codes in the 00.15 CIP family with dedicated pages on EDsmart Data.

Degree Levels (IPEDS)

Completions reported to IPEDS for CIP 15.0800 in the survey year used in our extract (2,166 total across levels below).

  • 360 Bachelor's (16.6% of IPEDS total)
  • 1,616 Master's (74.6% of IPEDS total)
  • 190 Doctorate (8.8% 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 Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians graduates alone.

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 Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians CIP family (14 programs reporting debt). Not specific to every Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians graduate.

  • $24,636 median federal loan debt among completers
  • $82,073 median earnings four years after enrollment (national program median)
  • 0.39 debt-to-earnings ratio (Scorecard proxy)
  • 2.2% 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

$136,006 Average wage, mapped occupations (OEWS)

Occupations mapped to Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians average $136,006 a year in the BLS OEWS extract.

Average annual salaries of the most common occupations for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians majors.

Occupations by Share

69,280 2023 Workforce

The number of Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians graduates in the workforce has been growing.

Various jobs filled by those with a major in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians by share of the total number of graduates.

Diversity

Demographic information for those who earn a degree in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians in the United States.

Workforce Age

N/A Average Age in 2023

This chart shows distribution of ages for employees with a degree in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians.

Age distribution for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians degree holders in the workforce.

Gender Distribution

Gender distribution data is not available for this degree program.

Gender distribution of Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians degree recipients.

Race and Ethnicity Distribution

Race and ethnicity distribution data is not available for this degree program.

Racial and ethnic distribution of Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians degree recipients.

Degrees Awarded

The most common degree types awarded to students graduating in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians are Bachelors Degree, Masters Degree, and Associates Degree.

Distribution of degree types awarded in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians.

Skills

Data on the critical and distinctive skills necessary for those working in the Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians field from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Required Skills

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians majors need many skills, but most especially Critical Thinking, Active Listening, and Reading Comprehension.

Rating of how necessary various skills are for Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians 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 Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians majors.

About

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians

In 2023, 2,455 degrees were awarded across all undergraduate and graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians.

CIP Code

15.0800 - Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians

What the data shows

At the program-family level, College Scorecard reports median debt of $24,636 for bachelor's completers and median earnings near $82,073, a debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.39. Those figures describe national program cohorts in this CIP family—not every individual Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians graduate.

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 $5,042 in-state at public colleges and $29,778 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.