Which Ohio mechanical engineering program has the lowest debt?

University of Toledo reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,900, with first-year pay of $77,011.

How much do mechanical engineering graduates earn in Ohio?

The median across 14 Ohio mechanical engineering bachelor's programs is $71,273 in the first year after graduating and $87,824 five years after.

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

14 Ohio programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

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

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Ohio mechanical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $71,273 in their first year, $548 more than the national median. Ohio State reports the highest first-year pay ($79,359), and University of Toledo the lowest median debt ($17,900).

Median first-year pay$71,273National $70,725

Median pay after 5 years$87,824National $91,554

Median federal debt$25,000National $24,730

Debt-to-earnings36%National 35%

All 14 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	Ohio StateColumbus · public	$79,359	$95,293	$20,500	26%
2	University of ToledoToledo · public	$77,011	$89,223	$17,900	23%
3	Case WesternCleveland · private nonprofit	$76,736	$92,158	$24,855	32%
4	Ohio Northern UniversityAda · private nonprofit	$72,443	$88,267	$27,000	37%
5	University of CincinnatiCincinnati · public	$72,412	$90,998	$25,998	36%
6	University of DaytonDayton · private nonprofit	$71,911	$93,487	$24,250	34%
7	University of AkronAkron · public	$71,448	$87,380	$25,125	35%
8	University of Mount UnionAlliance · private nonprofit	$71,097	$88,418	$27,000	38%
9	Cedarville UniversityCedarville · private nonprofit	$69,178	$81,962	$25,000	36%
10	Ohio UniversityAthens · public	$69,161	$87,293	$27,000	39%
11	Miami UniversityOxford · public	$68,067	$86,964	$25,100	37%
12	Youngstown StateYoungstown · public	$68,061	$83,601	$24,817	36%
13	Wright StateDayton · public	$66,331	$83,880	$25,000	38%
14	Cleveland StateCleveland · public	$65,531	$83,818	$25,000	38%

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

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

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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

$99,100

Median pay in Ohio. 14,390 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $69,160Top 10%: $138,020

Cost Estimators

$77,730

Median pay in Ohio. 8,100 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $48,750Top 10%: $124,990

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$166,870

Median pay in Ohio. 9,690 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $117,640Top 10%: $220,990

Aerospace Engineers

$138,440

Median pay in Ohio. 3,710 people work in this job in Ohio. 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%: $82,830Top 10%: $201,670

Common questions

Ohio State in Columbus reports the highest median first-year pay, $79,359. Its median federal debt is $20,500.

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 Ohio 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