Best degree programs for Marine Engineers and Naval Architects, ranked by enrollment
1 college programs and 15 schools train Marine Engineers and Naval Architects. Compare graduates per year, cost and pay, $112,230 median wage, 8,250 U.S. jobs. Federal data.
1 college programs at 15 schools train marine engineers and naval architects, graduating 412 people a year (IPEDS completions). The largest is Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. The job pays a median of $112,230 (BLS OEWS May 2025).
About marine engineers and naval architects
Design, develop, and evaluate the operation of marine vessels, ship machinery, and related equipment, such as power supply and propulsion systems.
Fields of study that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level, the tier our program pages are built on. Numbers are graduates per year.
1 degree programs that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are College Scorecard figures for people who finished the program, reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. That is a different measurement from the occupation-wide wages further down this page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naval Architecture and Marine Engineeringmain feeder CIP 14.2201 | 412 | 100.0% | 15 | $92,559 | $27,000 |
Top 15 schools by graduates into this job
Counting every feeder program a school offers, not just its largest one.
What marine engineers and naval architects earn
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
Top-paying states
Top-paying metro areas
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Where the jobs are, state by state
Pick a state for in-state pay, the schools there, and the programs they run.
| State | Median pay | Jobs | Concentration | Schools | Graduates / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Yorkmoderate | $112,230 | 250 | 0.48× | 3 | 137 |
| Mainelimited | $100,430 | 260 | 7.61× | 2 | 69 |
| Massachusettslimited | $114,640 | — | — | 1 | 61 |
| Michiganlimited | $76,210 | — | — | 1 | 43 |
| Marylandlimited | $130,150 | 300 | 2.04× | 1 | 36 |
| Louisianalimited | — | 430 | 4.23× | 1 | 23 |
| Floridalimited | $130,640 | 370 | 0.69× | 1 | 1 |
Skills and tools
From O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational database. Importance is a 1 to 5 scale.
What they do day to day
- Perform monitoring activities to ensure that ships comply with international regulations and standards for life-saving equipment and pollution preventatives.
- Design complete hull and superstructure according to specifications and test data, in conformity with standards of safety, efficiency, and economy.
- Conduct analyses of ships, such as stability, structural, weight, and vibration analyses.
- Study design proposals and specifications to establish basic characteristics of craft, such as size, weight, speed, propulsion, displacement, and draft.
- Maintain contact with, and formulate reports for, contractors and clients to ensure completion of work at minimum cost.
- Coordinate activities with regulatory bodies to ensure repairs and alterations are at minimum cost and consistent with safety.
- Check, test, and maintain automatic controls and alarm systems.
- Prepare technical reports for use by engineering, management, or sales personnel.
Skills
- Critical Thinking4.1
- Reading Comprehension3.9
- Active Listening3.8
- Writing3.8
- Speaking3.8
- Mathematics3.6
- Active Learning3.5
- Science3.5
Knowledge areas
- Engineering and Technology4.3
- Mechanical4.2
- Design4.0
- English Language4.0
- Transportation3.7
- Mathematics3.6
Abilities
- Deductive Reasoning4.3
- Oral Expression4.0
- Information Ordering4.0
- Oral Comprehension4.0
- Inductive Reasoning4.0
- Problem Sensitivity4.0
Core activities
- Getting Information4.2
- Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards4.2
- Making Decisions and Solving Problems4.1
- Analyzing Data or Information4.1
- Documenting/Recording Information4.0
- Working with Computers4.0
Tools and technology
hotmarks an O*NET hot technologyHow to get in
How to become a Marine 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.
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 1 majors mapped to Marine Engineers and Naval Architects1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.2201Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Related careers
Jobs O*NET identifies as close to this one, with their own pay and outlook.
Common questions
What degree do you need to become a Marine Engineer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, which awarded 412 degrees in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Marine Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Together they graduate about 412 people a year.
How much do marine engineers and naval architects earn?+
The median is $112,230 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). The middle range runs from $83,010 at the 10th percentile to $173,330 at the 90th. 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 marine engineers and naval architects growing?+
BLS projects a +5.8% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career?+
15 institutions reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 marine engineers and naval architects work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Marine Engineer, Marine Surveyor, Naval Architect, Naval Architect Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2121.
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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