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Electrical at Colorado School of Mines

Golden, CO · Public · Bachelor's Degree · Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering
66 /100
DegreeWorth Score (Base Case)
67
Optimistic
66
Base Case
59
Pessimistic
Earnings $80,815/yr (4% vs median)
AI Risk Very High (56% exposed)
Job Market Large (54,500 openings/yr)

How AI Changes the Outlook

Three scenarios based on how aggressively AI disrupts the career paths available to Electrical graduates.

Optimistic
No Disruption		 Base Case
Gradual AI		 Pessimistic
Aggressive AI
10-Year Earnings $1,083K $832K $566K
Earnings Multiple (In-State) 12.8x 9.8x 6.7x
Earnings Multiple (Out-of-State) 6.1x 4.7x 3.2x
Viable Career Paths 7 of 7 7 of 7 6 of 7
DegreeWorth Score 67 66 59

10-Year Earnings Projection

*Year 1 uses actual reported earnings. Scenarios diverge as AI impact compounds over time.

4-Year Tuition (In-State)
$84,744
Out-of-state: $177,504
Median Debt at Graduation
$21,500
3.2 months of Year 1 earnings
Reported Earnings (5 Year)
$103,408
28% growth from Year 1

Career Paths

Where Electrical graduates typically work. Raw data — no blending. The scenarios above model how these factors interact. This field has roughly 54,500 combined openings per year.

Career Path Wage Openings/yr Growth AI Risk
Architectural and engineering managers $167,740 14,500 +3.8% 41%
Computer hardware engineers $155,020 4,700 +7.3% 73%
Aerospace engineers $134,830 4,500 +6.1% 57%
Electronics engineers, except computer $127,590 5,700 +6.2% 67%
Engineers, all other $117,750 9,300 +2.1% 46%
Electrical engineers $111,910 11,700 +7.2% 56%
Engineering teachers, postsecondary $106,120 4,100 +8.1% 50%

Compare & Explore

Electrical at Other Schools

Carnegie Mellon University ($139,337) University of California-Berkeley ($137,295) Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($117,345) Cornell University ($100,516) The University of Texas at Austin ($96,997) Rice University ($96,751) National University ($93,417) Northeastern University ($92,222)

Other Majors at Colorado School of Mines

Computer Science ($86,268) Mining and Mineral Engineering ($83,309) Metallurgical Engineering ($78,984) Petroleum Engineering ($77,400) Mechanical Engineering ($74,145) Engineering Physics ($72,858) Civil Engineering ($70,301) Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering ($69,102)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the DegreeWorth Score for Electrical at Colorado School of Mines?
This program scores 66/100 in the Base Case scenario, factoring in earnings, AI disruption risk, job market size, and earnings multiple. The score ranges from 67 (optimistic) to 59 (pessimistic) depending on AI's impact.
How does AI affect Electrical career prospects?
We model three scenarios: Optimistic (no disruption), Base Case (gradual AI adoption), and Pessimistic (aggressive AI displacement). In the base case, Electrical graduates retain 7 of 7 viable career paths. 10-year earnings range from $566,425 (pessimistic) to $1,083,227 (optimistic).
How many job openings are there for Electrical graduates?
The career paths mapped to Electrical have roughly 54,500 combined job openings per year nationally, making this a large job market.
Is Electrical at Colorado School of Mines worth it?
In the Base Case, this degree earns 9.8x its in-state tuition over 10 years. Even in the Pessimistic scenario, the multiple is 6.7x. The spread between scenarios tells you how sensitive this degree is to AI disruption.
Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024-2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Scenarios use a continuous weighting function combining AI exposure and BLS job growth projections. "Earnings Multiple" is total 10-year projected earnings divided by tuition — not a discounted financial ROI. Last updated 2025.