Best Computer Hardware Engineer programs in Wisconsin, ranked by enrollment
Research, design, develop, or test computer or computer-related equipment for commercial, industrial, military, or scientific use.
7 schools in Wisconsin run programs that feed this job, graduating 585 people a year. The job pays a median of $83,670 in Wisconsin across about 270 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Wisconsin that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Wisconsin that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Wisconsin (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 Wisconsin page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 14.1001In Wisconsin → | 415 | 70.9% | 6 | $77,636 | $25,000 |
| 2 | Computer Engineering, Generalmain feeder CIP 14.0901In Wisconsin → | 139 | 23.8% | 5 | $78,333 | $24,098 |
| 3 | CIP 14.4701In Wisconsin → | 31 | 5.3% | 1 | — | — |
Top 7 schools in Wisconsin
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 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 Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 326 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $82,018 | 90% | — | 45% |
| 2 | Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 89 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $74,901 | 67% | $20,167 | 59% |
| 3 | University of Wisconsin - Platteville Platteville, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 52 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $77,405 | 56% | — | 89% |
| 4 | University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Milwaukee, WI Public · 2 feeder programs | 47 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $73,603 | 49% | — | 91% |
| 5 | Marquette University Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 32 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | $81,797 | 83% | $25,376 | 81% |
| 6 | University of Wisconsin - Stout Menomonie, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Electrical and Computer Engineering | — | 55% | — | 88% |
| 7 | University of Wisconsin - Green Bay Green Bay, WI Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Electrical and Electronics Engineering | — | 48% | — | 89% |
All 7 schools in Wisconsin
Every school in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin - Madison | Madison | Public | 326 | 2 |
| Milwaukee School of Engineering | Milwaukee | Private not-for-profit | 89 | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin - Platteville | Platteville | Public | 52 | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee | Milwaukee | Public | 47 | 2 |
| Marquette University | Milwaukee | Private not-for-profit | 32 | 2 |
| University of Wisconsin - Stout | Menomonie | Public | 31 | 1 |
| University of Wisconsin - Green Bay | Green Bay | Public | 8 | 1 |
What computer hardware engineers earn in Wisconsin
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $161,740. Wisconsin pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in Wisconsin
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 Computer Hardware Engineers page.
How to become a Computer Hardware 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 Wisconsin
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 4 majors mapped to Computer Hardware Engineers4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.0901Computer Engineering, General
- 14.0902Computer Hardware Engineering
- 14.1001Electrical and Electronics Engineering
- 14.4701Electrical and Computer Engineering
Common questions
Answers for people weighing computer hardware engineers programs in Wisconsin.
What degree do you need to become a Computer Hardware Engineer?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Electrical and Electronics Engineering, which awarded 415 degrees in Wisconsin in 2024-25, 70.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Computer Hardware Engineer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Electrical, Computer Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering. Together they graduate about 585 people a year in Wisconsin.
How much do computer hardware engineers earn in Wisconsin?+
The median is $83,670 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 48.3% below the U.S. median of $161,740. 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 computer hardware engineers growing?+
BLS projects a +7.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 4,700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Wisconsin?+
7 institutions in Wisconsin 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 computer hardware engineers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Engineer, Design Engineer, Hardware Engineer, Systems Integration Engineer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 17-2061.
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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card