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Energy & Mining Engineering

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

These majors prepare you to find, extract, and convert energy—oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and increasingly renewables. You'll take physics, chemistry, geology, thermodynamics, and specialized classes in well design, reservoir engineering, or mine planning.

Field trips and labs are common: you might log a real well, model a mine, or tour a drilling operation. Petroleum and mining programs spend significant time on geology and field operations.

What you'll do after college

Grads work at oil and gas companies, mining firms, electric utilities, and a growing number of clean-energy startups. The work can take you anywhere from offshore rigs to remote mines to research labs.

Pay is among the highest in engineering, but the industries are cyclical—booming one year and laying people off the next. The energy transition is reshaping the field as more grads work on geothermal and hydrogen.

Famous graduates

  • Herbert Hoover — 31st U.S. President; B.A. in Geology and Mining from Stanford University
  • George P. Mitchell — Pioneer of shale gas extraction; B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$96,703
169
100–79%
$109,773
335
79–29%
$106,188
170
29–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$101,918
163
400–1190
$103,179
335
1200–1400
$115,119
138
1400–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$86,672p10 $114,422p90 Military STEM Non-Research Public University Religious University Private University Public University 1–15 Private University 1–30 Massachusetts Maritime Academy · $104,082 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology · $86,033 Colorado School of Mines · $96,198 Texas A&M University - College Station · $131,062 Texas A&M International University · $87,720 Virginia Tech · $97,512 Pennsylvania State University · $99,679 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $98,337 University of Texas Permian Basin · $103,075 University of Alaska - Fairbanks · $86,672 Texas Tech University · $121,782 Louisiana State University · $100,667 Oregon Institute of Technology · $93,955 Texas A&M University - Kingsville · $79,437 University of Oklahoma - Norman · $109,661 University of Mississippi · $98,451 University of Houston · $90,197 University of Louisiana at Lafayette · $121,240 Missouri University of Science and Technology · $89,121 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania · $88,372 University of North Dakota · $108,287 University of Utah · $96,135 University of Nevada, Reno · $82,596 Mississippi State University · $96,660 Montana Technological University · $105,419 University of Arizona · $102,206 West Virginia University · $96,323 Michigan Technological University · $83,889 University of Kentucky · $93,218 University of Kansas · $104,148 University of Wyoming · $111,044 New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology · $103,522 Saint Francis University · $87,672 University of Tulsa · $111,448 University of Rochester · $95,983 Marietta College · $98,959 University of California, Berkeley · $112,106 University of Texas at Austin · $121,727 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $88,013 Stanford University · $114,422 Military: mean $104,082 STEM Non-Research: mean $86,033 Public University: mean $99,220 Religious University: mean $99,560 Private University: mean $97,471 Public University 1–15: mean $107,282 Private University 1–30: mean $114,422 All colleges: p10 $86,672 All colleges: p90 $114,422
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Energy & Mining Engineering 45 683 75% / 25% 21% $99,854 96%
Petroleum Engineering 25 414 80% / 20% 31% $103,225 96%
Mining Engineering 14 122 80% / 20% 8% $96,857 98%
Geological Engineering 15 112 55% / 45% 2% $90,476 97%
Energy Systems Engineering 5 21 86% / 14% 14% $95,847
Energy Engineering 1 8 50% / 50% 0% $112,106
Energy Systems Engineering, Other 1 3 67% / 33% 33%
Geomechanics 1 2 50% / 50% 0% $95,983
Energy Science and Engineering 1 1 0% / 100% 0% $114,422