City College of New York Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering
- Public college
- New York, NY
- About 37 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
City College of New York chemical engineering graduates earn less than graduates of most chemical engineering programs nationally, $67,450 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $14,125 in federal loans, less than at 96% of chemical engineering programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the New York median of $72,866.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The New York and national columns are the medians across all chemical engineering bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, City College of New York graduates earn less than the national figure and about $31,800 less than the New York median. Several New York programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every New York chemical engineering program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the New York medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 2% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $150 a month, or 2.7% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
63% of graduates (43 of 68) were working in New York one year after graduating. Prices in the New York area are about 13% above the national average, so a $67,450 salary here buys what about $59,922 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to chemical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$175,710Median pay in New York. 8,250 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers
$104,010Median pay in New York. 840 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Chemical Engineers
$129,060Median pay in New York. 540 people work in this job in New York. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About City College of New York
Chemical Engineering ranks 4th of 30 bachelor's programs at City College of New York by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Science ($83,258), Computer Engineering ($78,326), and Electrical Engineering ($78,172).
Other chemical engineering bachelor's programs near New York
Common questions
The median graduate earns $67,450 one year after graduating and $68,626 five years after. The median across chemical engineering bachelor's programs in New York is $72,866.
The median federal loan balance is $14,125, which ranks the lowest of 11 chemical engineering bachelor's programs in New York. That works out to about $150 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 21% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 32%. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several New York programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 63% (43 of 68) were working in New York one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of New York comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the chemical engineering program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024