Montana Tech ranked top 20 nationwide in engineering salaries

The Wall Street Journal has named Montana Technological University #7 on its 2023 list of Top 20 Public Colleges for Engineering Salaries.

The rankings consider the salary data of graduates over their first 10 years in the workforce following commencement. Montana Tech graduates posted an average annual salary of $104,082, a premium of $13,908 over the national average. Data was compiled from Glassdoor, which rates employers, and Lightcast, a labor market data firm. Fields analyzed include various chemical, civil, environmental, electrical, and mechanical engineers. Software and computer engineers are not included.

Montana Tech is the smallest school in the Top 10. It is ranked alongside powerhouse universities with  multi-billion-dollar endowments and far more students. They include the University of California campuses at Berkeley, Santa Cruz, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, the United States Naval Academy, San Francisco State University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

“We are incredibly proud of the success of our graduates and the salaries they command upon graduation as well throughout their career,” Chancellor Les Cook said. “Montana Tech has consistently had some of the highest starting salaries in the state, and to be ranked in the top 10 for the Intermountain and Pacific Northwest for mid-careers is something we are incredibly proud of. Our graduates are exceptional, and the industry knows this.”

Montana Tech is the only university in Montana, the Rocky Mountain West, and Pacific Northwest to make the top 10.

“I’m not surprised by this ranking as our high-caliber graduates are in great demand by industry,” said Dr. Kenneth Lee, Dean of the School of Mines and Engineering. “In addition, our graduates are trained to be lifetime learners giving them an advantage in the workforce as they progress through their careers.”

Montana Tech’s School of Mines and Engineering has a century-long history of educating graduates to solve some of the world's most challenging and complex problems. The university’s world-class faculty bring relevant real-world experience to classrooms and labs, works with students in hands-on discovery, and collaborates on research. All undergraduate programs are ABET-accredited.