Best Agricultural Engineering Programs in the Midwest (2026)
Updated
Part of Best Engineering Colleges in the Midwest
Regional list from Agricultural Engineering Programs in the United States
This page ranks the 12 Agricultural Engineering programs in the Midwest by median earnings of Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing. University of Nebraska-Lincoln ranks 1st on this list, reporting median earnings of $96,908 for its graduates four years after completing.
Across the listed programs, the figure ranges from $96,908 to $71,715, with a median of $83,738.
Every program on the list is at a public institution. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ranks 35th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions, the strongest position in the group.
University of Wisconsin-River Falls posts the lowest average net price, at $14,054.
The ranked list
| Rank | School | Program Earnings | Average net price | Net price, families under $30K | Admission rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln · Lincoln, NE | $96,908 | $17,747 | $12,751 | 87.5% |
| University of Nebraska-Lincoln reports median earnings of $96,908 for its Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing, the highest on this list. | |||||
| 2 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Champaign, IL | $89,400 | $14,355 | $2,038 | 42.4% |
| Admitting 42% of applicants, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ranks 35th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions. | |||||
| 3 | Iowa State University · Ames, IA | $88,576 | $18,589 | $10,582 | 88.7% |
| Graduates across all fields who borrowed left with a median of $22,869 in federal loans at Iowa State University, where the Agricultural Engineering program reports median earnings of $88,576 four years after completing. | |||||
| 4 | Michigan State University · East Lansing, MI | $86,498 | $19,680 | $7,068 | 84.8% |
| Michigan State University posts an average net price of $19,680 alongside median earnings of $86,498 for its Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 5 | Purdue University-Main Campus · West Lafayette, IN | $86,306 | $14,600 | $5,098 | 49.9% |
| Purdue University-Main Campus ranks 5th on this list, with an 85-graduate earnings cohort and an admission rate of 50%. | |||||
| 6 | North Dakota State University-Main Campus · Fargo, ND | $84,529 | $15,543 | $9,370 | 95.0% |
| North Dakota State University-Main Campus reports median earnings of $84,529 for its Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing, above the list median of $83,738. | |||||
| 7 | University of Minnesota-Twin Cities · Minneapolis, MN | $82,946 | $16,778 | $6,642 | 79.8% |
| An average net price of $6,642 for families earning under $30,000 coincides with median earnings of $82,946 at University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. | |||||
| 8 | Ohio State University-Main Campus · Columbus, OH | $81,917 | $17,339 | $4,885 | 60.6% |
| Ohio State University-Main Campus ranks 90th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions and reports median earnings of $81,917 for its Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 9 | Kansas State University · Manhattan, KS | $81,376 | $19,406 | $13,178 | 81.7% |
| Kansas State University shows a 29-graduate earnings cohort and an admission rate of 82%. | |||||
| 10 | South Dakota State University · Brookings, SD | $79,322 | $19,841 | $14,266 | 98.3% |
| South Dakota State University reports median earnings of $79,322 for its Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing, with a school-wide median federal debt of $23,250 across all borrowers who completed. | |||||
| 11 | University of Wisconsin-Madison · Madison, WI | $78,368 | $17,354 | $4,200 | 45.2% |
| An average net price of $4,200 for families earning under $30,000 and an admission rate of 45% are reported at University of Wisconsin-Madison. | |||||
| 12 | University of Wisconsin-River Falls · River Falls, WI | $71,715 | $14,054 | $8,472 | 81.7% |
| University of Wisconsin-River Falls ranks 12th on this list, with median earnings of $71,715 for its Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
How this list is ordered
Programs are ordered by the median earnings of their Agricultural Engineering graduates four years after completing, highest first. Only programs with a reported earnings cohort in the Midwest appear. The earnings figures are medians for federally aided completers of Agricultural Engineering programs who were working and not enrolled four years after completing. The metric does not adjust for graduate school enrollment, cost, or who enrolls, and it is not a measure of teaching quality. The gap between University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is $7,508, and the spread from the top to the bottom of the list is $25,193.
Job market context in the Midwest
Graduates of Agricultural Engineering programs in the Midwest enter a labor market that links to occupations such as Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary and Agricultural Engineers. The median annual wage across those occupations is $115,198, and a quarter of workers in those occupations earn less than $87,852. Projections for 2024 to 2034 put employment in those occupations about 4.1% higher, with about 620 openings a year for every hundred graduates, more projected openings than graduates. Wages and top occupations exclude management occupations; openings include them. These market figures describe the occupations, not the earnings of any listed program, which the ranking above measures four years after completing.