$80,862
Grouped estimate · Medium evidence.
Same subject at 12 matched peer institutions · master's
Historical archive, not a current salary estimate.
Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
University of California-Santa Barbara · Santa Barbara, CA
Medium evidenceMatched peers12 institutions · same subjectSee the evidence
The degree in numbers
Cost & earnings.
Earnings context
One career stage.
A clearer comparison.
USD · Master's · 2 years after completion
Same source release. National references exclude this degree.
Behind the number
Your comparison group.
Same subject at 12 matched peer institutions · master's
Grouped estimate. Middle half of comparison values: $78,343–$87,604.
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.
| Institution & subject | Reported earnings |
|---|---|
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis ObispoMechanical Engineering | $94,408 |
| University of California-IrvineMechanical Engineering | $79,284 |
| The University of Texas at AustinMechanical Engineering | $76,460 |
| University of FloridaMechanical Engineering | $78,971 |
| Clemson UniversityMechanical Engineering | $74,576 |
| University of California-DavisMechanical Engineering | $87,604 |
| North Carolina State University at RaleighMechanical Engineering | $82,440 |
| Binghamton UniversityMechanical Engineering | $75,518 |
| University of Washington-Seattle CampusMechanical Engineering | $79,284 |
| University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignMechanical Engineering | $87,604 |
| University of Michigan-Ann ArborMechanical Engineering | $87,604 |
| University of Wisconsin-MadisonMechanical Engineering | $85,538 |
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 ↗