UTEP Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering
- Public university
- El Paso, TX
- About 156 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
UTEP mechanical engineering graduates earn less than graduates of most mechanical engineering programs nationally, $62,393 in their first year. Where this program stands out is debt. The typical graduate leaves with $18,875 in federal loans, less than at 85% of mechanical engineering programs in the country. Debt is low, but pay is also below the Texas median of $66,678.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all mechanical engineering bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, UTEP graduates earn about the national figure and about the same as the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas mechanical engineering program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas 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 47% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned $8,767 less in their first year than other graduates. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $200 a month, or 3.8% 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
69% of graduates (132 of 190) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the El Paso area are about 10% below the national average, so a $62,393 salary here buys what about $69,393 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
$112,410Median pay in Texas. 22,080 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$76,980Median pay in Texas. 20,760 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$171,370Median pay in Texas. 19,030 people work in this job in Texas. 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
$130,270Median pay in Texas. 6,750 people work in this job in Texas. 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 UTEP
Mechanical Engineering ranks 4th of 39 bachelor's programs at UTEP by first-year earnings. The top three are Electrical Engineering ($74,285), Computer and Information Science ($73,311), and Nursing ($72,429).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $62,393 one year after graduating and $91,486 five years after. The median across mechanical engineering bachelor's programs in Texas is $66,678.
The median federal loan balance is $18,875, which ranks 6th lowest of 22 mechanical engineering bachelor's programs in Texas. That works out to about $200 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 30% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 35%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Texas programs report higher pay, usually with more debt.
Most do. 69% (132 of 190) were working in Texas 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 Texas 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