Which Massachusetts chemical engineering program has the lowest debt?

MIT reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,209, with first-year pay of $80,139.

How much do chemical engineering graduates earn in Massachusetts?

The median across 6 Massachusetts chemical engineering bachelor's programs is $78,074 in the first year after graduating and $102,719 five years after.

How many chemical engineering bachelor's programs are in Massachusetts?

6 Massachusetts programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's) Programs in Massachusetts, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

6 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Chemical Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Massachusetts chemical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $78,074 in their first year, $4,233 more than the national median. Northeastern University reports the highest first-year pay ($81,880), and MIT the lowest median debt ($15,209).

Median first-year pay$78,074National $73,841

Median pay after 5 years$102,719National $97,933

Median federal debt$27,000National $23,274

Debt-to-earnings34%National 32%

All 6 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	Northeastern UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$81,880	$104,660	$27,000	33%
2	MITCambridge · private nonprofit	$80,139	$124,650	$15,209	19%
3	WPIWorcester · private nonprofit	$78,767	$100,777	$27,000	34%
4	UMass LowellLowell · public	$77,380	$100,143	$27,000	35%
5	Tufts UniversityMedford · private nonprofit	$75,367	$115,375	Not reported	Not reported
6	UMass AmherstAmherst · public	$72,514	$96,939	$27,000	37%

Tufts University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts chemical engineering program

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Northeastern University$81,880
MIT$80,139
WPI$78,767
UMass Lowell$77,380
Tufts University$75,367

Lowest median debt

MIT$15,209
Northeastern University$27,000
WPI$27,000
UMass Lowell$27,000
UMass Amherst$27,000

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 chemical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$201,430

Median pay in Massachusetts. 7,690 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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%: $137,750Top 10%: $286,410

Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers

$127,570

Median pay in Massachusetts. 4,740 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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.

Bottom 10%: $76,750Top 10%: $194,760

Chemical Engineers

$118,000

Median pay in Massachusetts. 1,460 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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.

Bottom 10%: $67,810Top 10%: $172,170

Common questions

Northeastern University in Boston reports the highest median first-year pay, $81,880. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked147 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 Massachusetts rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the chemical 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