Best Materials Engineering Programs in the South (2026)
Updated
Part of Best Engineering Colleges in the South
Regional list from Materials Engineering Programs in the United States
This page ranks the 10 Materials Engineering programs in the South by median earnings of Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing. University of Maryland-College Park ranks 1st on this list, reporting median earnings of $97,714 for its graduates four years after completing.
Across the listed programs, the figure ranges from $97,714 to $58,221, with a median of $86,831.
All 10 programs are at public institutions. University of Florida ranks 29th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions, the best on this page. University of Florida posts the lowest average net price, at $6,541.
The ranked list
| Rank | School | Program Earnings | Average net price | Net price, families under $30K | Admission rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Maryland-College Park · College Park, MD | $97,714 | $15,678 | $2,962 | 44.8% |
| University of Maryland-College Park ranks 1st on this list, reporting median earnings of $97,714 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 2 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus · Atlanta, GA | $92,260 | $12,116 | $7,666 | 14.1% |
| Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus posts an admission rate of 14% and median earnings of $92,260 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 3 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University · Blacksburg, VA | $90,828 | $24,953 | $11,689 | 54.8% |
| Graduates across all fields who borrowed at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University left with a median of $21,500 in federal loans, while the Materials Engineering program reports earnings of $90,828 four years after completing. | |||||
| 4 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh · Raleigh, NC | $89,968 | $17,303 | $6,382 | 41.7% |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh ranks 4th on this list and reports an average net price of $17,303 alongside median earnings of $89,968 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 5 | University of Florida · Gainesville, FL | $87,779 | $6,541 | $1,982 | 24.2% |
| University of Florida carries an average net price of $1,982 for families earning under $30,000 and reports median earnings of $87,779 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 6 | Clemson University · Clemson, SC | $85,883 | $22,253 | $13,607 | 38.3% |
| Clemson University ranks 6th on this list with median earnings of $85,883 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing and an admission rate of 38%. | |||||
| 7 | University of Kentucky · Lexington, KY | $84,796 | $18,851 | $12,182 | 92.9% |
| University of Kentucky admits 93% of applicants and reports median earnings of $84,796 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 8 | University of Alabama at Birmingham · Birmingham, AL | $83,985 | $18,749 | $16,172 | 88.2% |
| Graduates across all fields who borrowed at University of Alabama at Birmingham left with a median of $22,300 in federal loans, and the Materials Engineering program reports earnings of $83,985 four years after completing. | |||||
| 9 | University of North Texas · Denton, TX | $78,250 | $15,649 | $12,311 | 72.2% |
| University of North Texas ranks 9th on this list and reports an average net price of $15,649 alongside median earnings of $78,250 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing. | |||||
| 10 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville · Knoxville, TN | $58,221 | $18,976 | $10,029 | 41.6% |
| The University of Tennessee-Knoxville reports median earnings of $58,221 for its Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing and an average net price of $10,029 for families earning under $30,000. | |||||
How this list is ordered
Programs are ordered by the median earnings of their Materials Engineering graduates four years after completing, highest first. Only programs with a reported earnings cohort in the South appear. The median reflects federally aided completers of the program who were working and not enrolled, measured four years after completing. For 1 of the 10 listed programs the figure is the two-year completion median rather than the four-year one. The metric does not adjust for graduate school enrollment, cost, or who enrolls, and it is not a measure of teaching quality. The spread from University of Maryland-College Park to the bottom of the list is $39,493, and the gap between University of Maryland-College Park and Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus is $5,454.
Job market context in the South
Graduates of Materials Engineering programs in the South enter occupations such as Cost Estimators and Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary. The median annual wage across those occupations is $82,922, and a quarter of workers in those occupations earn less than $61,943. Projections for 2024 to 2034 put employment in those occupations about 5.1% higher, with 12,760 projected openings a year, or about 2,715 openings a year for every hundred graduates, suggesting more projected openings than graduates. Wages and top occupations exclude management occupations; openings include them. The ranking above uses graduate earnings four years after completing, a different measure from the occupational wage figures shown here.