Mississippi·Architecture and Engineering Occupations·SOC 17-3026

Best Industrial Engineering Technologist programs in Mississippi, ranked by enrollment

Apply engineering theory and principles to problems of industrial layout or manufacturing production, usually under the direction of engineering staff.

10 schools in Mississippi run programs that feed this job, graduating 342 people a year. The job pays a median of $50,180 in Mississippi across about jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledQuality TechnicianNanofabrication SpecialistManufacturing Technology AnalystIndustrial Engineering TechnicianR and D Engineer (Research and Development Engineer)Research Lab Associate (Research Laboratory Associate)Process Engineering Technician (Process Engineering Tech)Quality Control Engineering Technician (QC Engineering Technician)
Graduates / yr
342
in Mississippi
Median pay · Mississippi
$50,180
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
people employed
Schools
10
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
45%
across those schools
Median net price
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Mississippi that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Mississippi that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Mississippi (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 Mississippi page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1142
41.5%
2$57,188$22,000
2136
39.8%
5$57,188$22,000
364
18.7%
4$57,188$22,000

Top 10 schools in Mississippi

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 10 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
Perkinston, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
110Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, Other$43,63148%
2Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
82Industrial Technology/Technician$57,92367%78%
3University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
49Industrial Technology/Technician$75,49349%99%
4Pearl River Community College
Poplarville, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
27Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician$44,16237%
5Copiah - Lincoln Community College
Wesson, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
24Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician50%
6Holmes Community College
Goodman, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
20Industrial Technology/Technician39%
7Jackson State University
Jackson, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
11Industrial Technology/Technician$36,37851%93%
8Itawamba Community College
Fulton, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
10Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician50%
9Mississippi Valley State University
Itta Bena, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
6Industrial Technology/Technician27%92%
10East Central Community College
Decatur, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
3Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician36%

All 10 schools in Mississippi

Every school in Mississippi 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.

All schools in Mississippi that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community CollegePerkinstonPublic1101
Mississippi State UniversityMississippi StatePublic822
University of Southern MississippiHattiesburgPublic491
Pearl River Community CollegePoplarvillePublic271
Copiah - Lincoln Community CollegeWessonPublic241
Holmes Community CollegeGoodmanPublic201
Jackson State UniversityJacksonPublic111
Itawamba Community CollegeFultonPublic101
Mississippi Valley State UniversityItta BenaPublic61
East Central Community CollegeDecaturPublic31

What industrial engineering technologists and technicians earn in Mississippi

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Mississippi
$50,180
Mean annual
$57,310
Jobs in state
What the range looks like
10th pct$40,220Median$50,18090th pct$82,010
Versus the national median
-24.1%

U.S. median $66,120. Mississippi pays below the national figure.

Metro areas in Mississippi

Jackson, MS
$53,500median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.7%
Little or no change
Openings per year
6,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,300
74,600 → 75,900
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

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 Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians page.

How to become a Industrial Engineering Technologist

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
Associate's degree

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionCritical ThinkingActive ListeningWritingMonitoringSpeaking

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Mississippi

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 8 majors mapped to Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians7 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 15.0001Applied Engineering Technologies/Technicians
  • 15.0612Industrial Technology/Technician
  • 15.0613Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician
  • 15.0699Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, Other
  • 15.0703Industrial Safety Technology/Technician
  • 15.0705Process Safety Technology/Technician(no graduates reported)
  • 15.1501Engineering/Industrial Management
  • 15.1503Packaging Science

Common questions

Answers for people weighing industrial engineering technologists and technicians programs in Mississippi.

What degree do you need to become an Industrial Engineering Technologist?+

Associate's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians, Other, which awarded 142 degrees in Mississippi in 2024-25, 41.5% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Industrial Engineering Technologist?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians. Together they graduate about 342 people a year in Mississippi.

How much do industrial engineering technologists and technicians earn in Mississippi?+

The median is $50,180 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 24.1% below the U.S. median of $66,120. 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 industrial engineering technologists and technicians growing?+

BLS projects a +1.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 6,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Mississippi?+

10 institutions in Mississippi reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 industrial engineering technologists and technicians work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Quality Technician, Nanofabrication Specialist, Manufacturing Technology Analyst, Industrial Engineering Technician, R and D Engineer (Research and Development Engineer), Research Lab Associate (Research Laboratory Associate) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-3026.

Industrial Engineering Technologists and Technicians in other statesIndianaLouisianaTexasAlabamaCaliforniaIllinoisMissouriNew York

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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