Best Materials Engineer programs in Massachusetts, ranked by enrollment
Evaluate materials and develop machinery and processes to manufacture materials for use in products that must meet specialized design and performance specifications. Develop new uses for known materials.
7 schools in Massachusetts run programs that feed this job, graduating 183 people a year. The job pays a median of $114,100 in Massachusetts across about 1,360 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Massachusetts that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Massachusetts (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Massachusetts page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Materials Engineeringmain feeder CIP 14.1801In Massachusetts → | 108 | 59.0% | 6 | $74,110 | $23,250 |
| 2 | Polymer/Plastics Engineeringmain feeder CIP 14.3201In Massachusetts → | 75 | 41.0% | 2 | $71,651 | $27,000 |
Top 7 schools in Massachusetts
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 7 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Massachusetts - Lowell Lowell, MA Public · 1 feeder programs | 56 | Polymer/Plastics Engineering | $77,114 | 65% | — | 83% |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 42 | Materials Engineering | $65,919 | 96% | $11,666 | 5% |
| 3 | University of Massachusetts - Amherst Amherst, MA Public · 2 feeder programs | 29 | Polymer/Plastics Engineering | — | 83% | — | 60% |
| 4 | Boston University Boston, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Materials Engineering | — | 89% | $21,956 | 11% |
| 5 | Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Materials Engineering | — | 90% | $32,926 | 60% |
| 6 | Tufts University Medford, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Materials Engineering | — | 94% | $23,570 | 11% |
| 7 | Merrimack College North Andover, MA Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Materials Engineering | — | 70% | $33,877 | 70% |
All 7 schools in Massachusetts
Every school in Massachusetts with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Massachusetts - Lowell | Lowell | Public | 56 | 1 |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Cambridge | Private not-for-profit | 42 | 1 |
| University of Massachusetts - Amherst | Amherst | Public | 29 | 2 |
| Boston University | Boston | Private not-for-profit | 28 | 1 |
| Worcester Polytechnic Institute | Worcester | Private not-for-profit | 25 | 1 |
| Tufts University | Medford | Private not-for-profit | 2 | 1 |
| Merrimack College | North Andover | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What materials engineers earn in Massachusetts
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $112,860. Massachusetts pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Massachusetts employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Massachusetts
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Materials Engineers page.
How to become a Materials Engineer
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Massachusetts
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Materials Engineers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.0601Ceramic Sciences and Engineering
- 14.1801Materials Engineering
- 14.2001Metallurgical Engineering
- 14.2801Textile Sciences and Engineering
- 14.3201Polymer/Plastics Engineering
Common questions
Answers for people weighing materials engineers programs in Massachusetts.
What degree do you need to become a Materials Engineer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Materials Engineering, which awarded 108 degrees in Massachusetts in 2024-25, 59.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Materials Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Materials Engineering, Polymer/Plastics Engineering. Together they graduate about 183 people a year in Massachusetts.
How much do materials engineers earn in Massachusetts?+
The median is $114,100 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.1% above the U.S. median of $112,860. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for materials engineers growing?+
BLS projects a +5.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 1,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Massachusetts?+
7 institutions in Massachusetts reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do materials engineers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Metallurgist, Materials Engineer, Metallurgical Engineer, Materials Research Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2131.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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