PSEO is an experimental data product from the Census Bureau’s Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) program. Since expanding, it follows approximately 25% of degrees awarded. Below is a map that shows PSEO’s coverage across the country.

While on average graduates with a bachelor’s degree in engineering typically have relatively high earnings, the differences across subfields of engineering are significant.

Median earnings for Louisiana Tech University (LA Tech) engineering graduates from 2001-2018 was $64,360 one year after graduation (Figure 2). But this figure masks important earnings differences among subfields: For example, first-year earnings for biomedical engineers was $44,189 (the lowest) compared to $73,332 for chemical engineers (the highest).

Figure 2 shows median earnings and earnings growth over time for each subfield as well as distribution of earnings. It illustrates that while those in biomedical engineering had lower median earnings than civil engineering graduates in the first year, their 75^th percentile earnings were almost equal.

PSEO includes many institutions that offer two-year programs, such as Southeast Technical College in South Dakota.

Knowing what graduates earn is especially helpful, as many students choose their field of study as they enter community college. Earnings differ even in related fields.

At Southeast Technical College, individuals can earn engineering technology associates degrees in architectural engineering; civil engineering; electrical engineering; or electromechanical engineering technologies.

While the degrees are similar in content, earnings outcomes differ, as Figure 4 shows. Graduates with an electrical engineering technologies degree have median annual earnings of $36,669 one year after graduation — the lowest of the four engineering degrees.

Electromechanical degrees earn a median of $51,710, which is the highest of the four programs.

However, five years after graduation, the earnings gap between these two degrees narrows by half. In contrast, civil and architectural engineering technology degree recipients start with higher earnings but experience slower increases in pay ($41,150 and $36,466 after one year compared with $49,261 and $45,809 five years after graduation, respectively).

Ten years after graduation, electromechanical technologies significantly outperform the other programs (and, in fact, all programs at the school), while civil engineering technologies experiences the lowest earnings growth.

Oregon State University is a land-grant school and has many programs focused on agricultural fields. Two notable programs are Agricultural Business and Management and Agricultural Engineering. Graduates of these programs typically earn significantly more than the median earnings for all graduates at the school.

As a land-grant institution, the hope is Oregon State University will meet the agricultural needs of the state workforce, which the employment flows bear out. Over 75% of agriculture graduates remained in Oregon one year after graduation, and most who left the state are employed in neighboring states.