Engineering

Polymer/Plastics Engineering

The University of Tennessee-Knoxville · Knoxville, TN

Medium evidenceMatched peers12 institutions · related subjectsSee the evidence

The degree in numbers

Cost & earnings.

Annual tuition$31,974Institution-level tuition; programme fees may differ · before aid

Earnings context

One career stage.
A clearer comparison.

USD · Master's · 2 years after completion
Same source release. National references exclude this degree.

Selected degree estimate$78,642
Engineering · national$79,058

Behind the number

Your comparison group.

Medium evidence

Related subjects at 12 matched peer institutions · master's

Grouped estimate. Middle half of comparison values: $73,584–$87,864.

Historical earnings archive. College Scorecard legacy FOS archive (file dated 2022-01-19; cohorts vary). Do not interpret this as today's graduate salary. Further study and career changes are not modelled by this early-career figure.

Master's outcomes · 2 years after completion
Institution & subjectReported earnings
California State University-Long BeachElectrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Mechanical Engineering$76,003
University of South FloridaBiomedical/Medical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Engineering-Related Fields$77,558
Auburn UniversityArchitectural Engineering, Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering$70,009
Stony Brook UniversityMechanical Engineering$69,577
University of Washington-Seattle CampusAerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering$102,190
University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignCivil Engineering, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Engineering-Related Fields, Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering, Mechanical Engineering$71,734
University of Central FloridaEngineering-Related Fields$120,252
University of California-DavisCivil Engineering, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Mechanical Engineering$87,604
Purdue University-Main CampusAerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering, Other, Mechanical Engineering$88,642
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh CampusBiomedical/Medical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering$79,727
North Carolina State University at RaleighCivil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering$82,071
Florida International UniversityConstruction Engineering Technologies, Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering, Industrial Engineering$74,200
How matching & uncertainty work

We first look for the same subject code (or exact subject name), qualification, country, currency, source release and earnings horizon. Peer institutions are matched using admissions selectivity, completion rates, undergraduate size and institution type, with a small preference for the same region. These are institutional proxies, not a ranking of programme quality.

If subject-matched peers are sparse, we try related subjects at closely matched universities, related degrees at this university, then an explicitly labelled national reference. We never multiply a salary by a university prestige score.

Peer and national estimates give each reporting institution one vote, after taking the median of its related programmes. Shared branch-campus outcomes count once. The middle-half range describes variation between reporting institutions. It is not an individual salary range or a statistical confidence interval.

Evidence labels describe match quality and coverage, not validated prediction accuracy. Admissions and size are undergraduate institutional measures, so graduate-degree comparisons are especially approximate.

Historical cohort outcomes are not promised salaries or a causal effect of attending this programme. College Scorecard earnings cover eligible federal-aid recipients, not every graduate or international student. Source definitions ↗