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Industrial Engineering

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

Industrial engineering is about making complex systems—factories, hospitals, supply chains, airports—run more efficiently. Coursework covers probability, statistics, optimization, simulation, manufacturing, human factors, and operations research. It's less about building physical things and more about designing better processes.

Many programs include co-ops at logistics companies, hospitals, or manufacturing plants where students apply what they've learned to a real bottleneck.

What you'll do after college

Grads work in supply chain management, consulting (think McKinsey, BCG, Deloitte), tech operations, healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and aviation. A typical day might involve analyzing data to find inefficiencies, modeling alternatives, and convincing managers to change how they operate.

Pay is solid and the major is one of the most flexible engineering paths because the methods apply to almost any industry. Many grads end up in management or business roles within a few years.

Famous graduates

  • Tim Cook — CEO of Apple; B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University
  • Lee Iacocca — Legendary automotive executive; B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University
  • Mike Duke — Former CEO of Walmart; B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$95,657
807
100–77%
$102,645
1,904
76–47%
$105,049
1,862
47–13%
$123,958
823
13–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$98,696
749
400–1220
$99,306
1,725
1230–1340
$106,537
1,962
1350–1460
$134,244
624
1460–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings vs. selectivity rank

$84,526p10 $119,238p90 Military STEM Non-Research Public University Religious University Private University Public University 1–15 Private University 1–30 United States Naval Academy · $97,553 United States Air Force Academy · $99,883 United States Military Academy · $97,263 United States Coast Guard Academy · $98,233 SUNY Maritime College · $116,550 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology · $81,694 Kettering University · $94,895 Milwaukee School of Engineering · $93,192 Lawrence Technological University · $90,194 Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University · $83,790 Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo · $109,321 Binghamton University · $87,441 University of South Florida · $87,378 University of Washington · $99,199 Cal Poly - Pomona · $86,612 Clemson University · $99,632 Morgan State University · $76,540 North Carolina A&T State University · $94,559 University of Central Florida · $81,317 Auburn University · $103,725 University of Tennessee, Knoxville · $91,224 Ohio State University · $108,642 Texas A&M University - College Station · $108,682 Northern Illinois University · $92,220 University of Connecticut · $105,903 Virginia Tech · $104,765 Pennsylvania State University · $107,703 New Mexico State University · $110,512 University of Pittsburgh · $103,482 University of Massachusetts - Amherst · $92,364 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $92,980 Oklahoma State University · $100,157 Rutgers University - New Brunswick · $87,673 New Jersey Institute of Technology · $82,989 Texas Tech University · $109,140 University of Michigan - Dearborn · $98,281 Texas State University · $90,389 University at Buffalo · $92,206 Louisiana State University · $99,956 Louisiana Tech University · $94,115 George Mason University · $116,325 Oakland University · $99,775 Ohio University · $92,770 Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville · $83,321 Temple University · $96,212 Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi · $101,686 Texas A&M University - Kingsville · $96,082 University of Oklahoma - Norman · $112,264 University of Texas at Arlington · $96,681 University of Vermont · $96,600 University of Alabama in Huntsville · $100,200 University of Rhode Island · $91,527 Cal State East Bay · $80,413 Oregon State University · $88,623 University of Arkansas · $121,345 University of Louisville · $112,579 University of Houston · $102,297 University of Illinois Chicago · $87,874 University of Missouri · $102,806 University of North Carolina at Charlotte · $91,824 Youngstown State University · $89,877 Southeast Missouri State University · $86,350 Kennesaw State University · $89,133 University of Iowa · $98,478 Metropolitan State University of Denver · $78,523 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania · $89,015 University of Minnesota - Duluth · $101,169 San Jose State University · $105,417 Kent State University at Kent · $81,482 Western Michigan University · $82,568 Mississippi State University · $103,192 Wayne State University · $99,548 Colorado State University - Pueblo · $95,465 Fort Hays State University · $91,751 Iowa State University · $93,353 Lamar University · $95,184 University of Arizona · $103,761 University of Massachusetts - Lowell · $97,020 West Virginia University · $98,852 Wichita State University · $96,943 Francis Marion University · $85,420 Arizona State University · $93,597 South Carolina State University · $83,441 University of Wisconsin - Platteville · $86,825 University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee · $90,111 North Dakota State University · $94,934 Pennsylvania State University - Erie-Behrend College · $107,177 Kansas State University · $101,282 University of Texas at El Paso · $84,526 Montana State University · $86,283 Weber State University · $94,871 Liberty University · $94,971 University of San Diego · $103,994 St. Ambrose University · $95,282 Colorado Christian University · $91,302 University of Indianapolis · $88,758 Methodist University · $86,412 Gannon University · $86,987 St. Mary's University · $83,248 University of Miami · $78,600 George Washington University · $115,236 Stevens Institute of Technology · $119,238 Hofstra University · $93,098 Quinnipiac University · $94,099 Worcester Polytechnic Institute · $95,374 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute · $114,134 Indiana Institute of Technology · $93,129 Bradley University · $89,163 Rochester Institute of Technology · $103,474 Western New England University · $89,326 Georgia Tech · $118,681 University of California, Berkeley · $119,070 University of Michigan - Ann Arbor · $108,688 University of Virginia · $129,664 University of Florida · $107,626 Purdue University · $102,286 North Carolina State University · $98,807 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · $99,061 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $112,506 Florida State University · $95,568 Stanford University · $151,221 Princeton University · $137,160 Brown University · $134,255 Columbia University · $178,060 Johns Hopkins University · $140,250 Rice University · $131,390 Northwestern University · $135,860 Cornell University · $144,786 Washington University in St Louis · $123,114 University of Southern California · $121,457 Northeastern University · $103,946 Lehigh University · $120,994 Military: mean $101,896 STEM Non-Research: mean $89,994 Public University: mean $95,605 Religious University: mean $91,369 Private University: mean $98,625 Public University 1–15: mean $109,196 Private University 1–30: mean $135,208 All colleges: p10 $84,526 All colleges: p90 $119,238
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Industrial Engineering 138 5,403 65% / 36% 11% $101,504 97%
Industrial Engineering 104 3,625 65% / 35% 12% $96,541 97%
Industrial and Systems Engineering 8 650 65% / 35% 8% $104,329 94%
Systems Engineering 15 451 61% / 39% 4% $103,893 98%
Operations Research 6 209 68% / 32% 11% $118,096 95%
Industrial and Operations Engineering 1 153 64% / 36% 15% $108,688 98%
Operations Research & Engineering 1 73 51% / 49% 12% $144,786 97%
Management Science and Engineering 1 69 62% / 38% 6% $151,221 94%
Operations Research and Financial Engineering 1 67 70% / 30% 15% $137,160 90%
Industrial Engineering and Operations Research 1 50 44% / 56% 26% $119,070 100%
Industrial and Management Engineering 1 29 69% / 31% 7% $114,134 98%
Systems Science and Engineering 1 14 64% / 36% 14% $123,114 96%
Engineering Management 1 11 100% / 0% 9% $96,600
Industrial & Systems Engineering 1 2 50% / 50% 0% $119,238 96%