UCLA Engineering Grads Ranked Among Nation's Top Earners
The computer engineering program at UCLA achieved a top-six ranking for median earnings four years post-graduation.
Updated on Oct. 10, 2026 in Financial Aid
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UCLA computer engineering graduates earned a median of $228,705 four years after completing their degrees. This data, analyzed by The HEA Group, covers nearly 25,000 bachelor's programs nationwide.
Why it matters
The rankings highlight the significant return on investment for graduates in high-demand technical fields. These figures offer prospective students a clearer picture of potential financial outcomes when evaluating degree programs.
The study utilized federal tax information to track earnings for students who received federal aid. UCLA estimates total annual academic costs at $45,500 for California residents and $84,770 for nonresidents.
The players
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in Los Angeles.
The HEA Group
The HEA Group is an organization that provides research and analysis regarding higher education and student aid.
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university that produced the top-ranked mathematics graduates in the study.
Pomona College
Pomona College is a private liberal arts college based in Claremont.
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university that was included in the comparison of computer science earnings.
The details
The rankings compared inflation-adjusted earnings from the 2017-18 and 2018-19 graduation cohorts. Other California institutions also performed strongly, with Pomona College and UC Berkeley computer science graduates reporting median earnings of $217,051 and $204,379, respectively.
Timeline
2017-18 and 2018-19: Graduation cohorts included in the earnings study.
2022 and 2023: Income measurement years using federal tax data.
July 1, 2026: Federal graduate earnings regulations published.
2026-27: Academic year for current UCLA cost estimates.
July 1, 2027: New federal framework scheduled for implementation.
Roadmap
This analysis arrives as the federal government prepares to fully implement the July 1, 2026 graduate earnings regulations. These standards seek to codify transparency requirements for institutions receiving federal student aid, marking a broader shift in how educational outcomes are reported.
Students considering enrollment at UCLA must weigh these potential earnings against annual costs of $45,500 for residents. Understanding these debt-to-income metrics can help local families better align their educational investments with long-term financial goals.
The takeaway
Prospective students should evaluate degree programs by balancing projected career earnings against tuition expenses. Utilizing official federal data can assist in making informed decisions about long-term debt and academic return on investment.
What happens next
The Student Tuition and Transparency System is scheduled to replace the current federal reporting framework on July 1, 2027.
Further reading
For additional context on financing your degree, see Financial Aid.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Asian Journal News.
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