Best Aerospace Engineer programs in Pennsylvania, ranked by enrollment
Perform engineering duties in designing, constructing, and testing aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft. May conduct basic and applied research to evaluate adaptability of materials and equipment to aircraft design and manufacture.
37 schools in Pennsylvania run programs that feed this job, graduating 4,113 people a year. The job pays a median of $133,940 in Pennsylvania across about 990 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Pennsylvania that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Pennsylvania (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 Pennsylvania page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 14.1901In Pennsylvania → | 2,344 | 57.0% | 34 | $70,724 | $24,833 |
| 2 | CIP 14.1001In Pennsylvania → | 1,538 | 37.4% | 28 | $77,636 | $25,000 |
| 3 | CIP 14.0201In Pennsylvania → | 231 | 5.6% | 1 | $72,210 | $25,000 |
Top 25 schools in Pennsylvania
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 15 of the 37 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 1,018 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $139,337 | 94% | $23,803 | 12% |
| 2 | Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus University Park, PA Public · 3 feeder programs | 879 | Mechanical Engineering | $69,772 | 86% | — | 61% |
| 3 | University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 375 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 97% | $22,055 | 5% |
| 4 | University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Pittsburgh, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 319 | Mechanical Engineering | $71,406 | 85% | — | 58% |
| 5 | Drexel University Philadelphia, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 219 | Mechanical Engineering | $74,267 | 78% | $36,004 | 79% |
| 6 | Lehigh University Bethlehem, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 183 | Mechanical Engineering | $75,479 | 88% | $26,912 | 26% |
| 7 | Villanova University Villanova, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 138 | Mechanical Engineering | $80,962 | 92% | $33,774 | 27% |
| 8 | Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Harrisburg Middletown, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 110 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 26% | — | 98% |
| 9 | Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Erie - Behrend College Erie, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 89 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 44% | — | 97% |
| 10 | Temple University Philadelphia, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 84 | Mechanical Engineering | $66,161 | 75% | — | 80% |
| 11 | Lafayette College Easton, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 75 | Mechanical Engineering | $72,481 | 88% | $20,396 | 31% |
| 12 | York College of Pennsylvania York, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 71 | Mechanical Engineering | $74,445 | 64% | $18,682 | 74% |
| 13 | Bucknell University Lewisburg, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 64 | Mechanical Engineering | $79,391 | 86% | $30,675 | 29% |
| 14 | Grove City College Grove City, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 59 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 83% | — | 72% |
| 15 | Widener University Chester, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 52 | Mechanical Engineering | $65,515 | 68% | $29,049 | 71% |
| 16 | Pennsylvania State University - World Campus University Park, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 46 | Mechanical Engineering | $69,772 | 34% | — | 91% |
| 17 | University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown Johnstown, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 40 | Mechanical Engineering | $71,406 | 56% | — | 95% |
| 18 | Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 37 | Mechanical Engineering | $63,062 | 63% | $27,082 | 91% |
| 19 | Gannon University Erie, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 35 | Mechanical Engineering | $65,796 | 66% | $21,409 | 74% |
| 20 | Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Berks Reading, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 32 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 32% | — | 99% |
| 21 | Messiah University Mechanicsburg, PA Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 29 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 75% | $25,675 | 79% |
| 22 | Montgomery County Community College Blue Bell, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 28% | — | — |
| 23 | Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Scranton Dunmore, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 39% | — | 99% |
| 24 | Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania Shippensburg, PA Public · 2 feeder programs | 18 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 56% | — | 87% |
| 25 | Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania Slippery Rock, PA Public · 1 feeder programs | 15 | Mechanical Engineering | — | 66% | — | 71% |
All 37 schools in Pennsylvania
Every school in Pennsylvania 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carnegie Mellon University | Pittsburgh | Private not-for-profit | 1,018 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania State University - Main Campus | University Park | Public | 879 | 3 |
| University of Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 375 | 2 |
| University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus | Pittsburgh | Public | 319 | 2 |
| Drexel University | Philadelphia | Private not-for-profit | 219 | 2 |
| Lehigh University | Bethlehem | Private not-for-profit | 183 | 2 |
| Villanova University | Villanova | Private not-for-profit | 138 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Harrisburg | Middletown | Public | 110 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania State University - Penn State Erie - Behrend College | Erie | Public | 89 | 2 |
| Temple University | Philadelphia | Public | 84 | 2 |
| Lafayette College | Easton | Private not-for-profit | 75 | 2 |
| York College of Pennsylvania | York | Private not-for-profit | 71 | 2 |
| Bucknell University | Lewisburg | Private not-for-profit | 64 | 2 |
| Grove City College | Grove City | Private not-for-profit | 59 | 2 |
| Widener University | Chester | Private not-for-profit | 52 | 2 |
What aerospace engineers earn in Pennsylvania
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $134,960. Pennsylvania pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Pennsylvania
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 Aerospace Engineers page.
How to become a Aerospace 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 Pennsylvania
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 5 majors mapped to Aerospace Engineers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.0201Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General
- 14.0202Astronautical Engineering
- 14.0299Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, Other
- 14.1001Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- 14.1901Mechanical Engineering
Common questions
Answers for people weighing aerospace engineers programs in Pennsylvania.
What degree do you need to become an Aerospace Engineer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Mechanical Engineering, which awarded 2,344 degrees in Pennsylvania in 2024-25, 57.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Aerospace Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Aerospace. Together they graduate about 4,113 people a year in Pennsylvania.
How much do aerospace engineers earn in Pennsylvania?+
The median is $133,940 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.8% below the U.S. median of $134,960. 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 aerospace engineers growing?+
BLS projects a +6.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 4,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Pennsylvania?+
37 institutions in Pennsylvania 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 aerospace engineers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Design Engineer, Systems Engineer, Aerospace Engineer, Flight Test Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2011.
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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