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Best Mechanical Engineering Programs in New Jersey (2026)

Updated

Part of Best Engineering Colleges in New Jersey

This page ranks the six Mechanical Engineering programs in New Jersey by median earnings of Mechanical Engineering graduates four years after completing, highest first. Princeton University leads the list with median earnings of $115,927 for its graduates four years after completing.

Across the six schools, the figures range from $115,927 to $89,827, with a median of $92,806.

Four of the listed programs are at public institutions and two are at private nonprofits. Princeton University posts the lowest average net price on the page at $6,128, and Rutgers University-New Brunswick ranks 30th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The ranked list

6 schools in list order
RankSchoolProgram EarningsAverage net priceNet price, families under $30KAdmission rate
1Princeton University · Princeton, NJ$115,927$6,128$414.6%
Princeton University reports $115,927 in median earnings for its Mechanical Engineering graduates four years after completing, with an admission rate of 5%.
2Stevens Institute of Technology · Hoboken, NJ$100,554$41,346$27,22147.6%
Stevens Institute of Technology graduates left with a median federal debt of $26,495 among Mechanical Engineering completers who borrowed, alongside earnings of $100,554 four years after completing.
3Rutgers University-New Brunswick · New Brunswick, NJ$94,561$24,406$16,34358.2%
Rutgers University-New Brunswick ranks 30th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions and posts median earnings of $94,561 for its Mechanical Engineering graduates four years after completing.
4The College of New Jersey · Ewing, NJ$91,052$27,646$7,90862.3%
The College of New Jersey shows an average net price of $7,908 for families earning under $30,000, and its Mechanical Engineering graduates earn a median of $91,052 four years after completing.
5Rowan University · Glassboro, NJ$90,084$22,408$15,30577.7%
Rowan University admits 78% of applicants and reports median earnings of $90,084 for its Mechanical Engineering graduates four years after completing.
6New Jersey Institute of Technology · Newark, NJ$89,827$16,504$10,13865.1%
New Jersey Institute of Technology reports 225 graduates in the earnings cohort, with a median of $89,827 four years after completing.

How this list is ordered

Programs are ordered by the median earnings of their Mechanical Engineering graduates four years after completing, highest first. Only programs with a reported earnings cohort in New Jersey appear. The figures are medians for federally aided completers of the program 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. Princeton University leads with median earnings of $115,927, while Stevens Institute of Technology follows at $100,554, a gap of $15,373. Across the 6 listed programs, the spread from top to bottom is $26,100.

Job market context in New Jersey

The Bureau of Labor Statistics links Mechanical Engineering to occupations such as Mechanical Engineers, Cost Estimators, and related roles in New Jersey. Across those occupations the median annual wage is $93,070, and a quarter of workers in those occupations earn less than $74,435. Projections for 2024 to 2034 show about 950 openings a year, or about 123 openings a year for every hundred graduates, with more projected openings than graduates. Projections for 2024 to 2034 put employment in those occupations about 1.3% higher. Wages and top occupations exclude management occupations; openings include them. The ranking above uses graduate earnings four years after completing; the market figures describe the occupations, and the two are not the same measure.

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