College Azimuth

Career outcomes brief

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Career Outcomes & Earnings

Updated

How much do WPI graduates earn?

The reported median is $105,724 four years after completion. The peer comparison uses $68,250 as its benchmark; the difference is $37,474 per year.

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 in the 96th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $18,684 more than 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.

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.

An estimated 26.8% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure derived from the program mix rather than observed enrollment. Four-year earnings cover completers who are working and not enrolled.

That means a portion of the university's graduates are building further credentials outside the earnings snapshot.

Median earnings · four years after completion
$105,724
Rank for difference from expectations
95th percentile
Four-year median earnings against two benchmarks
WPI reported median
$105,724
Peer schools comparable schools · $37,474 below WPI
$68,250
Model expectation what similar students would be expected to earn · $18,684 below WPI
$87,040

School and program earnings use pooled 2017–18 and 2018–19 completion cohorts, measured in 2022 and 2023 and expressed in 2024 dollars. How the model works.

How could earnings differ from the median?

The planning scenarios range from $72,550 to $124,733, around the reported median of $105,724. Compare the lower scenario with WPI borrowing and monthly payments to see how a smaller income could change your plan.

Modeled from the school’s program mix; not salary percentiles or a forecast for one graduate.

Earnings four years after completion
Planning rangeReported median
Lower estimate
$72,550
Median · reported
$105,724
Higher estimate
$124,733

Downside shows a lower-earning scenario based on the college’s mix of programs; upside shows a higher-earning scenario. Typical is the school’s reported median four years after completion. These are planning scenarios, not a forecast of your salary or percentiles of individual graduates.

Why the downside matters explores the risk hidden by medians, using older ten-year entrant data. Read about the move to four-year earnings.

Do WPI graduates earn more than expected?

Azimuth models what we would expect graduates to earn based on who the college enrolls, how selective it is and its local economy. The difference between that expectation and reported earnings is what Azimuth calls value added.

WPI graduates’ reported earnings are $18,684 above that expectation, the 95th percentile for this measure. Unlike a peer comparison, it adjusts for who enrolls.

The breakdown separates the contribution attributed to observed factors from the remaining difference. Neither component establishes how much attending WPI caused a student to earn. Read how expected earnings are estimated.

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.

Which fields at WPI report the highest earnings?

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.

Biomedical Engineering awarded 132 degrees, with median earnings of $92,806 four years after completion. Chemical Engineering awarded 92 degrees and had median earnings of $100,199 four years after completion.

Electrical Engineering awarded 87 degrees and had median earnings of $109,386 four years after completion. These large fields show a broad range of early-career earnings within the university’s technical offerings.

Highest reported four-year program earnings
Computer Science
$134,208
Mechatronics, Robotics, and Automation Engineering
$111,103
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering
$109,386
Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering
$105,171
Industrial Engineering
$101,554
Chemical Engineering
$100,199
Mechanical Engineering
$97,308
Computer Software and Media Applications
$95,430

Explore WPI program cohorts and field ranks for more context.

Further analysis

Field choice materially changes the modeled earnings picture at the university. Program-mix earnings scenarios place the downside at $72,550, the typical scenario at $105,724, and the upside at $124,733, all four years after completion.

Computer Science reaches $134,208; among the largest programs, Biomedical Engineering stands at $92,806. The spread shows variation by field.

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.

Data & methodology

Sources and reporting periods: methodology.

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

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

Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.