Which Massachusetts civil engineering program has the lowest debt?

Northeastern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $24,750, with first-year pay of $76,362.

How much do civil engineering graduates earn in Massachusetts?

The median across 8 Massachusetts civil engineering bachelor's programs is $72,379 in the first year after graduating and $88,738 five years after.

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

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

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Massachusetts civil engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $72,379 in their first year, $2,797 more than the national median. WPI reports the highest first-year pay ($76,419), and Northeastern University the lowest median debt ($24,750).

Median first-year pay$72,379National $69,582

Median pay after 5 years$88,738National $85,897

Median federal debt$27,000National $24,500

Debt-to-earnings37%National 35%

All 8 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	WPIWorcester · private nonprofit	$76,419	$97,994	$27,000	35%
2	Northeastern UniversityBoston · private nonprofit	$76,362	$94,368	$24,750	32%
3	Merrimack CollegeNorth Andover · private nonprofit	$75,556	Not reported	$27,000	36%
4	Wentworth Institute of TechnologyBoston · private nonprofit	$75,001	$90,759	$27,000	36%
5	UMass AmherstAmherst · public	$69,757	$86,717	$27,000	39%
6	Western New England UniversitySpringfield · private nonprofit	$67,726	Not reported	$27,000	40%
7	UMass LowellLowell · public	$65,103	$84,162	$27,000	41%
8	UMass DartmouthNorth Dartmouth · public	$63,158	$72,965	$27,000	43%

Debt and first-year pay at every Massachusetts civil 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 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

WPI$76,419
Northeastern University$76,362
Merrimack College$75,556
Wentworth Institute of Technology$75,001
UMass Amherst$69,757

Lowest median debt

Northeastern University$24,750
WPI$27,000
Merrimack College$27,000
Wentworth Institute of Technology$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 civil engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Civil Engineers

$106,730

Median pay in Massachusetts. 9,450 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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.

Bottom 10%: $78,280Top 10%: $165,590

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

Environmental Engineers

$115,800

Median pay in Massachusetts. 1,880 people work in this job in Massachusetts. 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.

Bottom 10%: $77,150Top 10%: $172,920

Petroleum Engineers

$144,910

Median pay nationwide. 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.

Common questions

WPI in Worcester reports the highest median first-year pay, $76,419. Its median federal debt is $27,000.

Civil Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked207 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 civil 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