Aerospace Degree — Salary, ROI & AI Risk at 57 Schools

Best Schools for Aerospace

Top 57 schools ranked by DegreeWorth Score. Click any row for full AI scenario analysis and earnings projections.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	AI Risk	ROI
1	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA	74 68–75	$85,509/yr	High	24.4x
2	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA	74 68–75	$78,320/yr	High	31.6x
3	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	73 68–73	$81,022/yr	High	20.5x
4	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA	73 67–73	$79,300/yr	High	20.7x
5	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD	73 67–74	$78,631/yr	High	22.1x
6	San Diego State University San Diego, CA	73 67–74	$74,375/yr	High	27.2x
7	West Virginia University Institute of Technology Beckley, WV	73 67–74	$72,210/yr	High	29.0x
8	University of Florida Gainesville, FL	73 67–74	$70,760/yr	High	38.3x
9	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX	72 67–71	$78,005/yr	High	18.0x
10	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA	72 66–72	$76,881/yr	High	19.3x
11	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Daytona Beach, FL	72 66–72	$75,483/yr	High	20.0x
12	Iowa State University Ames, IA	72 67–73	$75,036/yr	High	21.0x
13	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK	72 67–72	$72,607/yr	High	17.9x
14	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV	72 66–73	$72,210/yr	High	24.1x
15	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN	72 66–73	$71,989/yr	High	23.5x
16	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC	72 66–73	$70,820/yr	High	25.5x
17	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM	72 66–73	$68,002/yr	High	28.3x
18	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL	72 66–73	$67,953/yr	High	32.3x
19	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA	72 66–73	$66,477/yr	High	34.4x
20	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX	71 65–71	$74,524/yr	High	17.4x
21	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL	71 66–71	$73,887/yr	High	18.7x
22	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ	71 65–71	$71,712/yr	High	19.2x
23	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS	71 65–72	$69,056/yr	High	22.9x
24	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	70 65–70	$81,835/yr	High	14.7x
25	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	70 64–70	$80,225/yr	High	15.4x
26	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA	70 64–69	$76,856/yr	High	15.2x
27	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO	70 65–70	$76,183/yr	High	15.6x
28	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	70 63–70	$75,859/yr	High	16.1x
29	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH	70 65–68	$74,992/yr	High	15.0x
30	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH	70 64–69	$72,062/yr	High	16.2x
31	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS	70 65–69	$71,244/yr	High	14.2x
32	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY	70 65–70	$69,716/yr	High	18.4x
33	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK	70 65–69	$68,226/yr	High	15.7x
34	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA	69 63–70	$71,068/yr	High	16.7x
35	University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL	69 65–68	$70,383/yr	High	13.9x
36	Auburn University Auburn, AL	69 63–70	$68,607/yr	High	18.1x
37	Wichita State University Wichita, KS	69 64–70	$61,526/yr	High	21.1x
38	University of California-Davis Davis, CA	68 62–69	$71,633/yr	High	15.1x
39	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI	68 61–69	$69,514/yr	High	15.5x
40	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA	68 62–69	$67,425/yr	High	17.0x
41	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA	67 60–69	$65,401/yr	High	16.6x
42	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ	66 58–69	$57,456/yr	High	18.0x
43	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA	65 60–63	$77,922/yr	High	10.1x
44	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ	64 60–62	$69,320/yr	High	9.1x
45	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN	64 60–63	$68,495/yr	High	11.4x
46	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott Prescott, AZ	57 51–58	$75,483/yr	High	4.8x
47	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL	57 51–58	$75,483/yr	High	4.8x
48	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN	56 50–56	$81,057/yr	High	2.9x
49	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH	55 50–55	$83,639/yr	High	2.5x
50	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	55 49–56	$78,980/yr	High	3.2x
51	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA	55 49–55	$75,218/yr	High	3.2x
52	Saint Louis University Saint Louis, MO	55 50–56	$75,122/yr	High	3.3x
53	Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL	55 49–56	$69,149/yr	High	4.6x
54	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	54 48–55	$73,213/yr	High	3.0x
55	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY	54 48–55	$71,783/yr	High	3.1x
56	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY	53 48–54	$71,417/yr	High	2.9x
57	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL	52 46–52	$63,169/yr	High	2.7x

Highest Earning Aerospace Programs

Schools where Aerospace graduates earn the most in their first year after graduation.

School	1-Year Earnings	DW Score	AI Risk
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	$85,509/yr	74	High
Case Western Reserve University	$83,639/yr	55	High
University of Colorado Boulder	$81,835/yr	70	High
University of Notre Dame	$81,057/yr	56	High
The University of Texas at Austin	$81,022/yr	73	High
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor	$80,225/yr	70	High
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus	$79,300/yr	73	High
University of Southern California	$78,980/yr	55	High
University of Maryland-College Park	$78,631/yr	73	High
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	$78,320/yr	74	High

Best ROI for Aerospace

Schools with the highest earnings-to-tuition ratio for Aerospace.

School	ROI Multiple	Earnings	DW Score
University of Florida	38.3x	$70,760/yr	73
California State University-Long Beach	34.4x	$66,477/yr	72
University of Central Florida	32.3x	$67,953/yr	72
California State Polytechnic University-Pomona	31.6x	$78,320/yr	74
West Virginia University Institute of Technology	29.0x	$72,210/yr	73
New Mexico State University-Main Campus	28.3x	$68,002/yr	72
San Diego State University	27.2x	$74,375/yr	73
North Carolina State University at Raleigh	25.5x	$70,820/yr	72
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo	24.4x	$85,509/yr	74
West Virginia University	24.1x	$72,210/yr	72

Related Majors

Explore similar fields of study.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Aerospace graduates earn?

Across 57 schools, Aerospace graduates earn an average of $73,060 per year in their first year after graduation. Earnings range from $57,456 to $85,509 depending on the school.

What is the AI automation risk for Aerospace?

Aerospace is rated "High" for AI automation risk, with an average of 47% of job tasks exposed to large language models and AI tools. This means some career tasks in this field could be augmented or replaced by AI over the next decade.

Which school has the best Aerospace program?

Based on our DegreeWorth Score (combining earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and ROI), California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo ranks #1 for Aerospace with a score of 74/100 and graduate earnings of $85,509/yr.

Is a Aerospace degree worth it?

On average, Aerospace graduates earn 16.4x their in-state tuition over 10 years. This is a strong return on investment.

About This Data

This page aggregates Aerospace programs across 57 schools using earnings data from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, employment projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024–2034), and AI automation risk research from OpenAI and academic institutions.

The DegreeWorth Score (0–100) combines four equally weighted factors: graduate earnings, AI resilience, job market size, and return on investment. Each school's program page includes three AI scenarios (optimistic, base case, pessimistic) showing how automation could affect 10-year earnings.