Top Ranked Programs
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's program mix is anchored in engineering and computer science, reflecting its identity as a technically focused private research university. Engineering accounts for 45% of graduates under the Engineering family, with computer science and information technology representing 4% and additional concentration in other STEM fields at 4%. Across 30 programs serving roughly 1,544 students annually, the institution's degree output is concentrated in fields with strong direct-to-workforce earnings, which shapes both the rankings pattern and the overall median earnings profile. Computer Science anchors the institution's economic signature, combining substantial cohort scale with strong median earnings four years after enrollment. Azimuth ranks Computer Science #53 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions, with 284 graduates earning median earnings of $141,528. Azimuth ranks Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians #1 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions, with 80 graduates earning median earnings of $125,531, and Mathematics ranks #23 with 83 graduates earning median earnings of $105,768. The most popular programs by graduate volume — Computer Science (284 graduates, median earnings $141,528), Mechanical Engineering (212 graduates, median earnings $92,952), and Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering (112 graduates, median earnings $94,750) — are all high-mobility, direct-to-workforce pathways where four-year earnings closely reflect labor-market outcomes rather than a graduate-school transition. Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering and Mathematics round out the volume leaders and follow a similar pattern.