UAB Civil Engineering (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Civil Engineering
- Public university
- Birmingham, AL
- About 37 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UAB civil engineering graduates earn less than graduates of most civil engineering programs nationally, $62,283 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $26,596 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,500. Several Alabama programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Alabama and national columns are the medians across all civil engineering bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UAB graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Alabama median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Alabama civil engineering program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Alabama 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 36% 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 $282 a month, or 5.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
78% of graduates (32 of 41) were working in Alabama one year after graduating. Prices in the Birmingham area are about 8% below the national average, so a $62,283 salary here buys what about $67,962 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 civil engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Civil Engineers
$99,010Median pay in Alabama. 5,370 people work in this job in Alabama. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 22,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Architectural and Engineering Managers
$162,350Median pay in Alabama. 3,790 people work in this job in Alabama. 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.
Environmental Engineers
$102,650Median pay in Alabama. 780 people work in this job in Alabama. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 2,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Petroleum Engineers
$144,910Median pay nationwide. 50 people work in this job in Alabama. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About UAB
Civil Engineering ranks 5th of 31 bachelor's programs at UAB by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($76,151), Computer and Information Science ($69,633), and Materials Engineering ($69,498).
Other civil engineering bachelor's programs near Birmingham
Common questions
The median graduate earns $62,283 one year after graduating and $84,553 five years after. The median across civil engineering bachelor's programs in Alabama is $64,122.
The median federal loan balance is $26,596, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 civil engineering bachelor's programs in Alabama. That works out to about $282 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 43% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%. Compare the cost with other Alabama programs before deciding.
Most do. 78% (32 of 41) were working in Alabama 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 Alabama 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 civil 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