Ocean Engineering: earnings, debt, and careers

CIP 14.24. Official graduate outcomes from the U.S. Department of Education across 35 programs, and the careers this field is linked to.

Graduate earnings by credential level

National earnings of Ocean Engineering graduates who were working and not enrolled one year after completing, by credential. Bachelor's degree: median $74,149; Master's degree: median $84,703. The bar spans the 25th to 75th percentile, the thin line spans the 10th to 90th percentile, and the red mark is the median.

Credential	Programs	Graduates (recent year)	Median earnings, 1 yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs	Typical program median debt
Bachelor's degree	8	163	$74,149	$89,337	$24,125 3 programs
Post-baccalaureate certificate	1	0	Data unavailable	Data unavailable	Data unavailable
Master's degree	11	69	$84,703	$95,732	Data unavailable
Doctoral degree	9	27	Data unavailable	Data unavailable	Data unavailable
Graduate certificate	6	17	Data unavailable	Data unavailable	Data unavailable

National earnings are published by the Department of Education for each field and credential level Verified data. Typical program median debt is ConnectPrep's calculation: the median across programs of each program's median federal debt Calculated estimate. It covers federal loans only.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, Most Recent Field of Study Data. Varies by measure; see measure definitions. Published October 15, 2026. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Bachelor's degree programs with the highest early earnings

School	Median earnings, 1 yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs	Median debt
University of New Hampshire-Main Campus NH · Public · 20 graduates measured	$80,333	Data unavailable	Data unavailable
Texas A&M University-College Station TX · Public · 34 graduates measured	$76,849	$92,553	$23,023
University of Rhode Island RI · Public · 25 graduates measured	$76,050	$90,901	$24,125
Florida Institute of Technology FL · Private, nonprofit · 30 graduates measured	$72,992	$80,836	$24,750

Ranked by published median earnings one year after completion. Programs with suppressed earnings do not appear, so this is not a ranking of program quality.

Master's degree programs with the highest early earnings

School	Median earnings, 1 yr	Median earnings, 4 yrs	Median debt
Florida Atlantic University FL · Public · 17 graduates measured	$86,360	Data unavailable	Data unavailable

Ranked by published median earnings one year after completion. Programs with suppressed earnings do not appear, so this is not a ranking of program quality.

Careers linked to Ocean Engineering

Occupation	Median wage, all workers	Change 2025 to 2035	Typical entry education
Architectural and engineering managers	$171,270	+5.5%	Bachelor's degree
Engineers, all other	$122,930	+3.7%	Bachelor's degree
Engineering teachers, postsecondary	$109,270	+7.8%	Doctoral or professional degree

Occupations mapped to this field in the NCES and BLS CIP to SOC crosswalk. Occupation wages describe all workers, not recent graduates.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk. CIP 2020 and SOC 2018 taxonomies. Published April 30, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, National. May 2025 reference period. Published April 30, 2026. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, Table 1.2: Occupational projections, 2025-35, and worker characteristics, 2025. Base year 2025, projected year 2035. Published August 27, 2026. Retrieved October 18, 2026. Methodology.

Detailed CIP codes in this field (1)

14.2401 Ocean Engineering