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PhD Salaries and Lifetime Earnings

PhDs employed across job sectors show impressive earning potential:

“…[T]here is strong evidence that advanced education levels continue to be associated with higher salaries. A study by the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce showed that across the fields examined, individuals with a graduate degree earned an average of 38.3% more than those with a bachelor’s degree in the same field. The expected lifetime earnings for someone without a high school degree is $973,000; with a high school diploma, $1.3 million; with a bachelor’s degree, $2.3 million; with a master’s degree, $2.7 million; and with a doctoral degree (excluding professional degrees), $3.3 million. Other data indicate that the overall unemployment rate for individuals who hold graduate degrees is far lower than for those who hold just an undergraduate degree.” - Pathways Through Graduate School and Into Careers , Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and Educational Testing Service (ETS), pg. 3.

Average salaries by educational level and degree (data from the US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2009-2011, courtesy of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce):

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports higher earnings and lower unemployment rates for doctoral degree holders in comparison to those with master’s and bachelor’s degrees:

According to national studies, more education translates not only to higher earnings, but also higher levels of job success and job satisfaction:

“Educational attainment – the number of years a person spends in school – strongly predicts adult earnings, and also predicts health and civic engagement. Moreover, individuals with higher levels of education appear to gain more knowledge and skills on the job than do those with lower levels of education and they are able, to some extent, to transfer what they learn across occupations.” - Education for Life and Work (2012), National Research Council of the National Academies, pg. 66.

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Salaries & Employer Lists

What is a fair salary? How should you approach salary negotiation? Below, are the average salaries for engineering students, by major and degree level.  Download the  Evaluating Salary and Job Offers Handout  for advice and resources.  All salaries posted are in USD.

Engineering Co-op/Intern Salaries for 2022-2023

Bs hourly wages, ms hourly wages, phd hourly wages, engineering post-graduation salaries for 2022-2023.

Please note that due to a low number of responses from Master's and PhD level students, we've also included the national averages as reported by the National Association of Colleges & Employers (NACE) Summer 2023 Survey for those degree programs.

CLICK ON EACH MAJOR BELOW TO SEE A LIST OF EMPLOYERS WHO HAVE HIRED UMD GRADS IN PAST YEARS. *The majority of Professional Masters Programs salaries reflect individuals who already have full-time industry experience.

BS Entry-level Salaries

Ms entry-level salaries, phd entry-level salaries, websites for additional salary information.

• Salary.com  -  provides reports and calculators by profession and location .
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• Glassdoor - includes user-reported information on salaries, interviews, and company reviews. Create a free account with your .edu email address. Note that negotiation information is included under Interviews, not Salaries. If you're new to Glassdoor, you can watch a brief video tutorial about Getting the Most Out of Glassdoor .

Michigan Engineering Post-Graduation and Intern/Co-op Employment Data

The Engineering Career Resource Center (ECRC) collects a variety of employment data from current students and new graduates.

Post-graduation data is collected from undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students at the end of each semester via the ECRC’s First Destination Survey. Internship data is collected from an annual Internship / Co-Op Survey, as well as Michigan Engineering’s internship & co-op courses. For more information on the collection methodology, please click here .

The interactive tool below displays the collected employment data.

• Use filters to only show information relevant to your interests.
• For some tabs, a three year average is shown to provide additional data that may have been excluded due to fields with less than four data points.
• Hover over points of interest on each tab for additional information.

About the Data and Methodology

• ex. Academic Year 2023 includes graduates from August 2022, December 2022, and April 2023
• Data reflects post-graduation plans within six months of graduation.
• ex. Academic Year 2023 includes internships starting September 1, 2022 through August 31, 2023.
• Data is reported per degree, not per individual student.
• Employed includes : Full-time professional employment, employed as an entrepreneur (full-time), and employed in a full-time postdoc
• Continuing Education includes : Graduates who are continuing their education after receiving their degree
• Other includes : Employed part-time graduates who are not seeking full-time employment; Military Service; Volunteer Activities; Graduates who indicate that they are not seeking employment or any other post-graduation opportunity; Graduates who select “other” as their post-graduation outcome
• Seeking Employment includes : Graduates who are actively seeking full-time professional employment, including those who are employed part-time while seeking
• The salary data are self-reported.
• Salaries outside of the United States were not included.
• For Doctoral candidates, only industry based salaries are reported.
• Undergraduate Computer Science (CS) salaries represent data from both LSA and Engineering CS students and graduates.
• Undergraduate Data Science (DS) salaries represent data from both LSA and Engineering DS students and graduates.
• Ford Automotive Engin MEng
• GM Energy Syst Engin OL MEng
• GM Global Auto & Mfg OL MEng
• KLA Systems Engin & Des MEng OL
• All information collected is strictly confidential and released only in aggregate form. Salaries are never released identifying specific students or employers. Fields with fewer than four reported salaries are not listed.

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