Which Indiana mechanical engineering program has the lowest debt?

Notre Dame reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,000, with first-year pay of $84,999.

How much do mechanical engineering graduates earn in Indiana?

The median across 9 Indiana mechanical engineering bachelor's programs is $68,632 in the first year after graduating and $89,239 five years after.

How many mechanical engineering bachelor's programs are in Indiana?

9 Indiana programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's) Programs in Indiana, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

9 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Indiana mechanical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $68,632 in their first year, $2,093 less than the national median. Notre Dame reports the highest first-year pay ($84,999), and Notre Dame the lowest median debt ($19,000).

Median first-year pay$68,632National $70,725

Median pay after 5 years$89,239National $91,554

Median federal debt$25,431National $24,730

Debt-to-earnings37%National 35%

All 9 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Notre DameNotre Dame · private nonprofit	$84,999	$95,893	$19,000	22%
2	PurdueWest Lafayette · public	$80,374	$97,551	$19,937	25%
3	Rose-Hulman Institute of TechnologyTerre Haute · private nonprofit	$78,732	$93,120	$25,612	33%
4	IU IndianapolisIndianapolis · public	$69,746	$87,604	$26,450	38%
5	Purdue NorthwestHammond · public	$68,632	$89,239	$25,250	37%
6	Valparaiso UniversityValparaiso · private nonprofit	$68,265	$83,142	$27,000	40%
7	Trine UniversityAngola · private nonprofit	$66,816	$87,580	$27,000	40%
8	University of EvansvilleEvansville · private nonprofit	$66,553	Not reported	$25,010	38%
9	Purdue Fort WayneFort Wayne · public	$64,534	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported

Purdue Fort Wayne reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Indiana mechanical engineering program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Indiana medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Notre Dame$84,999
Purdue$80,374
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology$78,732
IU Indianapolis$69,746
Purdue Northwest$68,632

Lowest median debt

Notre Dame$19,000
Purdue$19,937
University of Evansville$25,010
Purdue Northwest$25,250
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology$25,612

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

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

$99,590

Median pay in Indiana. 8,690 people work in this job in Indiana. 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.

Bottom 10%: $66,330Top 10%: $143,090

Cost Estimators

$73,430

Median pay in Indiana. 4,810 people work in this job in Indiana. 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.

Bottom 10%: $50,630Top 10%: $106,640

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$155,810

Median pay in Indiana. 4,610 people work in this job in Indiana. 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.

Bottom 10%: $102,030Top 10%: $214,470

Aerospace Engineers

$107,400

Median pay in Indiana. 440 people work in this job in Indiana. 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.

Bottom 10%: $82,530Top 10%: $176,860

Common questions

Notre Dame in Notre Dame reports the highest median first-year pay, $84,999. Its median federal debt is $19,000.

Mechanical Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked302 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
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 Indiana rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the mechanical engineering bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024