Saint Louis University Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
- Private nonprofit university
- Saint Louis, MO
- About 36 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Saint Louis University mechanical engineering graduates earn about what mechanical engineering graduates earn nationally, $74,209 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $25,665 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,730. One other Missouri program reports higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Missouri and national columns are the medians across all mechanical engineering bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Debt and first-year pay at every Missouri mechanical engineering program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Missouri medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $272 a month, or 4.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
Prices in the St. Louis area are about 5% below the national average, so a $74,209 salary here buys what about $78,042 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 mechanical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Mechanical Engineers
$99,330Median pay in Missouri. 4,870 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Cost Estimators
$76,020Median pay in Missouri. 6,580 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$157,800Median pay in Missouri. 2,250 people work in this job in Missouri. 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.
Aerospace Engineers
$130,680Median pay in Missouri. 650 people work in this job in Missouri. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Saint Louis University
Mechanical Engineering ranks 2nd of 30 bachelor's programs at Saint Louis University by first-year earnings. The top three are Aerospace Engineering ($75,122), Mechanical Engineering ($74,209), and Nursing ($70,226).
Other mechanical engineering bachelor's programs near Saint Louis
Common questions
The median graduate earns $74,209 one year after graduating. The median across mechanical engineering bachelor's programs in Missouri is $71,929.
The median federal loan balance is $25,665, which ranks 4th lowest of 6 mechanical engineering bachelor's programs in Missouri. That works out to about $272 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 35% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%.
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 Missouri 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 mechanical 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