College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

MAMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #602 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth places Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the 59th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private nonprofit university in Worcester, Massachusetts, built around engineering: Engineering accounts for the majority of degrees awarded, and nearly every degree awarded is in a STEM field. Return is among the highest we track, while affordability is below the levels seen at many peers.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes more of that gap to the factors it measures than to what it cannot explain. The typical graduate also earns above the median at comparable schools, so the raw and adjusted earnings pictures point the same way.

Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than on to further study, meaning the four-year earnings figure captures the bulk of the class. The price case turns on income: the lowest band pays far less than the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

Pell recipients complete below the overall rate, and access is modestly below average while mobility is above average. The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and the degree mix is concentrated in engineering and computer science.

A student drawn to the largest programs should go in knowing that the highest-earning field is also the second-largest, so the volume and the payoff overlap more than they diverge.

WPI at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
60.2%
Six-year completion[2]
89.7%
Four-year earnings[3]
$105,724

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$32,350
Median student debt[4]
$27,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$53,567

WPI rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a private nonprofit university in Worcester, Massachusetts, enrolling 5,447 undergraduates. The university's composite standing sits in the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (59th percentile).

The shape is one of sharp contrasts: the strongest and weakest sit far apart, with affordability near the bottom of the field and return near the top. Worcester Polytechnic Institute admits 60.2% of applicants, a rate that is more selective than the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size.

Of students who start full time, 93.7% return for a second year, well above the peer median of 83.4%. The six-year graduation rate is 89.7%, against a peer median of 68.8%.

An estimated 5.3% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes the experience of the large majority who begin here. The four pillars sit far apart.

Return is the strongest, while affordability is the weakest. Mobility and access sit between them, so the overall picture is one of high earnings potential alongside a high net price.

Return is the clearest part of the profile, even as affordability is its sharpest constraint. Azimuth places Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the 96th percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions, its strongest pillar.

Mobility stands in the 60th percentile. Access is in the 29th percentile, while affordability is in the 2nd percentile, the weakest pillar.

The earnings picture and the cost picture therefore point in different directions.

11.9% of undergraduates at Worcester Polytechnic Institute receive Pell Grants. Those students complete at 82.4%, 7.3 percentage points below the overall six-year graduation rate (89.7%).

Azimuth ranks the university #1,045 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Worcester Polytechnic Institute #583 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $18,684 more than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

WPI rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#602
Massachusetts#30
Northeast#159

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 60
Access & reach
National percentile: 29
Affordability
National percentile: 2
Return on investment
National percentile: 96

01 / WPI briefing

WPI cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published price leaves Worcester Polytechnic Institute aid recipients with a net cost well above that of comparable schools. The standard cost of attendance is $78,679, an average across living arrangements.

On-campus tuition and fees are $60,965, and room and board are $18,386. For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $43,071, with average aid savings of $35,608 against the published price.

At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371; Worcester Polytechnic Institute is $15,700 above that figure. Azimuth ranks the university #1,383 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The higher peer-relative net price and low affordability rank point to the same cost concern.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has a published cost of attendance of $78,679 (an average across living arrangements), with aid recipients facing markedly different prices across family-income bands. Average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $24,018 in the lowest family-income band, $24,452 in the lower-middle family-income band, $32,350 in the middle family-income band, $37,753 in the upper-middle family-income band, and $49,716 in the highest family-income band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $25,698. Azimuth ranks Worcester Polytechnic Institute #1,383 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

For the average aid recipient, aid covers about 45% of the published cost, or $35,608 against the sticker price. Across all aid recipients, the is $43,071.

The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $27,371, placing the university's average net price $15,700 above that benchmark. Published tuition and fees are $60,965, so the aid offset still leaves a price above the comparable-institution median.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt at completion is $27,000, and 98.3% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median federal debt is $24,199 at comparable institutions (same type and size), with the university's median $2,801 above it.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing among parent borrowers is $53,567. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$32,350

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at WPI

At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, federal borrowing reaches 98.3% of federal aid recipients, making debt a common part of the cost picture. Among completers with federal loans, median federal student loan debt at completion is $27,000.

At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median federal debt is $24,199; the university's median stands $2,801 above it. For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $53,567.

At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the earnings picture is strong even though median debt is higher than at comparable institutions. Median earnings are $105,724 four years after completion.

Azimuth places that figure in the 98th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, provide another measure.

Graduates earn about $18,684 more than the model expects for similar students. Azimuth places that measure in the 95th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios run from $72,550 in the downside case to $124,733 in the upside case, with $105,724 as the typical scenario. Median federal debt is $27,000, or $2,801 above the peer median of $24,199; that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month if repaid over ten years. High earnings sit alongside debt above the peer median.

For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing at Worcester Polytechnic Institute was $53,567. For completers with median federal student debt, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month if repaid over ten years.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$27,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$53,567

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$307/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$681/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / WPI briefing

WPI career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, federally aided completers working and not enrolled have median earnings of $105,724 four years after completion. That figure is in the 98th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $18,684 more than the model expects for similar students.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between graduate earnings and the model's expectation for similar students, is in the 95th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $14,511.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $4,173. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250; the college's median is $37,474 above it. Both comparisons favor earnings.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has a high earnings profile: federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled report median earnings of $105,724 four years after completion. The measure draws on an earnings cohort of 1,497 completers, and Azimuth places it in the 98th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The program-mix model’s typical earnings scenario aligns with that observed median, with a downside scenario of $72,550 and an upside scenario of $124,733. An estimated 26.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix rather than observed enrollment.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, offers a separate check on the outcome. Graduates earn about $18,684 more than the model expects for similar students.

The median, earnings scenarios, and higher-than-expected earnings point in the same direction.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has median earnings of $105,724 four years after completion, placing it in the 98th percentile. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $68,250, with the university’s figure $37,474 above it.

Graduates earn about $18,684 more than the model expects for similar students. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, is in the 95th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $14,511. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain adds $4,173.

Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $13,377. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix range from $72,550 in the downside scenario to $124,733 in the upside scenario.

Azimuth places the return pillar in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Program results are led by Computer Science, with 199 degrees awarded and median earnings of $134,208 four years after completion.

Its earnings are 1.25x the national median for its field. Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering had 84 degrees awarded and median earnings of $111,103, while Electrical Engineering had 87 degrees awarded and median earnings of $109,386.

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering had 64 degrees awarded and median earnings of $105,171. The listed results span engineering and computer science, with each program showing a distinct four-year earnings figure.

Program choice is central to the range of modeled earnings at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The downside earnings scenario is $72,550 and the upside scenario is $124,733, both modeled from the program mix rather than observed groups of graduates.

Among selected fields, median earnings four years after completion are $134,208 in Computer Science, $111,103 in Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering, and $109,386 in Electrical Engineering. Those field results help explain why the earnings scenarios span a broad range.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute pairs high graduate earnings with costs that remain important to weigh before enrolling. Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $27,000.

That is above the $24,199 peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), by $2,801. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $307 a month if repaid over ten years.

Graduates earn about $18,684 more than the model expects for similar students. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $43,071, which is above the $27,371 peer median by $15,700.

Aid covers about 45% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Above-expected earnings point favorably, but debt and net price sit above the peer medians.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$14,511
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
+$4,173
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$18,684

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / WPI briefing

WPI acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

More than half of applicants were admitted to Worcester Polytechnic Institute, whose reported admission rate was 60.2%. Against the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size), the university's rate is lower.

Admissions
Admission rate
60.2%
Read the full admissions brief

04 / WPI briefing

What are the largest majors at WPI?[12]

Worcester Polytechnic Institute shows a clear spread in four-year earnings across its prominent engineering and computing fields. Computer Science is at the upper end, with median earnings of $134,208 four years after completion and 199 degrees awarded.

Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering follows at $111,103, with 84 degrees awarded. More moderate earnings appear in other large fields.

Mechanical Engineering, the largest program by degrees awarded, recorded median earnings of $97,308 four years after completion across 274 degrees awarded. Biomedical Engineering posted $92,806 with 132 degrees awarded.

The figures show that field choice matters even within the university’s engineering-heavy program mix.

Engineering accounts for 62.9% of bachelor’s degrees awarded, giving the program mix a clear technical center. Among the largest fields, Mechanical Engineering awarded 274 degrees and had median earnings of $97,308 four years after completion; Computer Science awarded 199 degrees and had median earnings of $134,208.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute's bachelor's degrees are overwhelmingly concentrated in engineering and computing. Engineering accounts for 62.9% of degrees awarded, with Computer & Information Sciences at 16.2% and Biological Sciences a distant third at 6.2%.

Across 13 programs with published four-year earnings data, the largest by degrees awarded is Mechanical Engineering at 274 degrees awarded, followed by Computer Science at 199 and Biomedical Engineering at 132. 90.8% of degrees awarded are in STEM fields.

The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where graduates earn a median of $134,208 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 1.25x against the national median for its field. Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering follows at $111,103, from 84 degrees awarded.

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering and Industrial Engineering round out the top earners, with medians of $105,171 and $101,554 from 64 and 21 degrees awarded, respectively. The earnings data follow that concentration: nearly every program of scale is an engineering discipline.

The spread between the highest-earning field and the lowest among the top five is narrow. The main variation across programs is in their size rather than in the trajectory of their graduates' earnings.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Mechanical Engineering 274 degrees awarded
$97,308
Computer Science 199 degrees awarded
$134,208
Biomedical/Medical Engineering 132 degrees awarded
$92,806
Chemical Engineering 92 degrees awarded
$100,199
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering 87 degrees awarded
$109,386
Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering 84 degrees awarded
$111,103

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / WPI briefing

How does WPI serve students from different backgrounds?

For the first-time full-time cohort, 89.7% complete within six years. Pell recipients complete within six years at 82.4%, below the overall rate by 7.3 percentage points.

Azimuth places Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the 60th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 95th percentile.

Graduates earn about $18,684 more than the model expects for similar students. Completion and both give the mobility picture a positive reading.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute has a narrower access profile, admitting 60.2% of applicants. Its undergraduate enrollment is 5,447 undergraduates; 11.9% receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 5.3% enter as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth assigns the access pillar to the 29th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. These measures give applicants a view of admission, financial access, and transfer entry at the university.

06 / WPI briefing

What colleges are similar to WPI?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with WPI.

Admissions peerRegis College69.8% admitted
Comparison with WPI
MeasureWPIRegis College
Peer earnings · 4 years$105,724$84,660-$21,064 vs WPI
Average annual net price$43,071$27,477-$15,594 vs WPI · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%69.8%
Higher-admission alternativeMassachusetts Maritime Academy94.7% admitted
Comparison with WPI
MeasureWPIMassachusetts Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$105,724$103,680-$2,044 vs WPI
Average annual net price$43,071$21,582-$21,489 vs WPI · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%94.7%
Explore Massachusetts Maritime Academy →
Nearby alternativeWentworth Institute of TechnologyNearby option · MA
Comparison with WPI
MeasureWPIWentworth Institute of Technology
Peer earnings · 4 years$105,724$95,027-$10,697 vs WPI
Average annual net price$43,071$34,170-$8,901 vs WPI · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%91.2%
Explore Wentworth Institute of Technology →
Lower-cost alternativeMassachusetts Maritime Academy$21,582 average net price
Comparison with WPI
MeasureWPIMassachusetts Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$105,724$103,680-$2,044 vs WPI
Average annual net price$43,071$21,582-$21,489 vs WPI · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%94.7%
Explore Massachusetts Maritime Academy →
Similar profileRensselaer Polytechnic InstituteMatched across several measures
Comparison with WPI
MeasureWPIRensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Peer earnings · 4 years$105,724$98,311-$7,413 vs WPI
Average annual net price$43,071$36,228-$6,843 vs WPI · lower cost
Admission rate60.2%63.5%
Explore Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings