SOCORRO, N.M. July 30, 2009 – The average salary of New Mexico Tech graduates is ranked in the top 15 percent of more than 599 universities in the nation, according to the most recent data at PayScale.com.

Tech graduates earn an average of $51,000 upon graduation and $96,500 at mid-career, ranking 75th in the nation.
Among technical universities, Tech ranks in the middle of the pack – 26th out of 48 universities categorized as “engineering schools.”

Most of the engineering schools rank in the top third in the study of salaries. The bottom third is mostly schools categorized as “liberal arts” or the catch-all “state school.”

New Mexico Tech has identified 13 “peer institutions” for comparison purposes, including the two other research universities in New Mexico and 11 engineering schools. Tech ranks very well in comparison:

Rank and School                       Initial Salary    Mid-Career

23. Colorado School of Mines        $60,000      $109,000

32. Georgia Tech                              $58,900      $105,000

36. New Jersey Tech                        $55,100      $104,000

74. New Mexico Tech                       $51,700       $96,300

81. Missouri S&T                               $57,300        $95,200

95. South Dakota School of Mines $57,800        $92,300

110. Michigan Tech                           $53,400        $90,100

159. Alabama-Huntsville (UAH)      $44,200        $86,200

247. Tennessee Tech                       $44,500        $79,900

260. North Dakota State                    $46,200        $78,800

263. University of New Mexico          $42,500        $78,500

285. New Mexico State                       $45,700        $77,300

NA    Montana Tech           

NA    SUNY ESF (Syracuse)             
 

The top 10 schools are the following:

University                                                                 Initial Salary    Mid-Career

1. Dartmouth University                                         $58,200           $129,000

2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology         $71,100            $126,000

3. Harvard University                                              $60,000           $126,000

4. Harvey Mudd College                                        $71,000           $125,000

5. Stanford University                                             $67,500           $124,000

6. Princeton University                                           $65,000           $124,000

7. Colgate University                                              $51,900           $122,000

8. University of Notre Dame                                  $55,300           $121,000

9. Yale University                                                     $56,000           $120,000

10. University of Pennsylvania                              $62,500           $118,000

Among engineering schools, the top 10 universities:

                                                                                  Initial Salary     Mid-Career Salary

1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology           $71,100          $126,000

2. Harvey Mudd College                                          $71,000          $125,000

3. Stanford University                                               $67,500          $124,000

4. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute                      $62,500          $116,000

5. Bucknell University                                               $56,100          $116,000

6. California Institute of Technology                      $69,700          $115,000

7. Polytechnic University of NY, Brooklyn              $62,700          $114,000

8. Lehigh University                                                  $57,400          $114,000

9. Carnegie Mellon University                                 $65,300          $113,000

10. University of California, Berkeley                     $57,100          $112,000

The highest ranked public schools are Cal-Berkeley (18) and Colorado School of Mines (23). The only other public schools to outrank New Mexico Tech are Georgia Tech (32), University of California-San Diego (41), Cal-Santa Barbara (60), Virginia Tech (66), Virginia (69) and San Jose State (73).

For those unfamiliar with New Mexico Tech, the ranking might be surprising, considering some of the schools ranked below Tech. They include St. John’s (79), Texas A&M (82), Johns Hopkins (83), New York U. (84), Colorado (87), Michigan (97), Boston University (102) and Purdue (104), to name a few.

Among schools west of the Mississippi, New Mexico Tech ranks 18th behind 13 California universities, two in Texas, one in Minnesota and Colorado School of Mines.

The PayScale.com rankings are by no means scientific or complete. The company solicits detailed information from employees about their wage and job history.

– NMT –

By Thomas Guengerich