undergradly.
Major · Engineering

Design circuits, power systems, and the hardware that runs everything else

Electrical and Electronics Engineering applies mathematical and scientific principles to the design of electrical systems — power generation, signal processing, embedded hardware, and electronic components. About 14,900 degrees are awarded annually across 438 colleges, nearly all at the bachelor's level.

Schools offering
438
Annual completions
14,891
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$101k

About this major

Electrical and electronics engineering is the discipline that designs the systems carrying, converting, and processing electrical energy and information. The curriculum starts where physics and calculus overlap — electromagnetic fields, circuit laws, complex impedance — and builds toward the applied work of designing real systems: power grids, analog and digital circuits, signal processing chains, control loops, and embedded hardware. CIP 14.1001 defines it explicitly as preparing graduates to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development, and operational evaluation of electrical and electronic systems and their components, including electrical power generation systems. That definition holds up across the curriculum: you spend the early years building the analytical foundation and the later years applying it to hardware.

The major attracts students who want to understand what happens inside the component — why a filter passes some frequencies and blocks others, how a transistor switches without relays, how a microcontroller interprets sensor data in real time. Lab work runs throughout: circuit simulation software, breadboard prototyping, oscilloscopes, and eventually PCB design in upper-division courses. Most programs culminate in a team capstone project where students design, build, and test a working electrical or electronic system — not a software demo, but physical hardware that either works or doesn't.

Career outcomes are strong and the credential requirement is clear. About 14,891 degrees are awarded annually across 438 colleges, with the overwhelming majority at the bachelor's level — associate's completers in this major report five-year median earnings of about $56,769, versus $101,141 for bachelor's completers, a gap that reflects the difference between technician-level and engineer-level job titles. The core occupations — electrical engineers at a $111,910 median and electronics engineers at $127,590 — require a bachelor's degree as the standard entry credential. Computer hardware engineers, a higher-paying adjacent path at $155,020, draw heavily from this major as well.

Section 3 · Careers

Where this major leads

Occupations most often associated with this major, from the federal BLS+O*NET crosswalk. Job-growth projections and median wages are national.

Occupation Median wage Job growth Typical education
Architectural and engineering managers $168k +3.8% Bachelor's degree
Electrical engineers $112k +7.2% Bachelor's degree
Electronics engineers, except computer $128k +6.2% Bachelor's degree
Computer hardware engineers $155k +7.3% Bachelor's degree
Aerospace engineers $135k +6.1% Bachelor's degree
Engineering teachers, postsecondary $106k +8.1% Doctoral or professional degree
Section 4 · Earnings

Earnings at a glance

Median graduate earnings from the federal College Scorecard, 5 and 10 years out.

Median 5-year earnings

$101k

Associate's vs Bachelor's — early-career earnings

Associate's

$57k

Bachelor's

$101k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if electronics and electromagnetic systems are the kinds of problems you find genuinely interesting — if tracing why a circuit behaves the way it does feels more like a puzzle you want to solve than a task you want to get through. The degree rewards students who are comfortable sitting with abstract mathematics long enough for the physical intuition to develop alongside it; the two don't separate cleanly in this curriculum the way they sometimes do in more applied programs. The earnings data supports committing to the bachelor's: five-year median earnings for bachelor's completers run about $101,141, with core occupations posting medians between $111,910 and $155,020 and the associate's path landing about $44,000 lower at the same point.

Think twice if you're primarily drawn to software, data systems, or machine learning rather than hardware — those interests map better to Computer Science or Computer Engineering, and you'll spend a significant portion of this curriculum on circuit analysis, electromagnetics, and power systems that won't feel relevant to a software-only career path. Think twice also if the idea of a heavy mathematical foundation — differential equations, linear algebra, and complex analysis as working tools rather than courses to pass — sounds draining; students who are ambivalent about the math tend to find the signals and systems coursework significantly harder than those who are genuinely interested in it. And if broad flexibility across physical industries matters more to you than specialization in electronics specifically, Mechanical Engineering gives you a wider range of applicable sectors — automotive, consumer products, manufacturing — at the cost of depth in circuits and embedded systems.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Ranked by annual completions at the associate's or bachelor's level — a proxy for program scale.

College Location Assoc. Bach. Total
University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA 0 492 492
Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX 0 319 319
The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 0 312 312
Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ 0 253 253
Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH 0 244 244
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 0 235 235
Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN 0 211 211
Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 0 192 192
Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ 0 187 187
University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA 0 176 176
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Mechanical Engineering

33,431 completions/yr

Civil Engineering, General

13,488 completions/yr

Computer Engineering, General

9,312 completions/yr

Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering

8,569 completions/yr

Chemical Engineering

7,914 completions/yr

Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering, General

6,386 completions/yr

Engineering, General

5,416 completions/yr

Industrial Engineering

4,841 completions/yr

Considering this direction?

We've taken a hard look at the debt, earnings trajectory, and degree-level tradeoffs for the Electrical and Electronics Engineering field. Read our verdict before you commit.

Is Electrical and Electronics Engineering worth it? Read verdict
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do electrical and electronics engineering majors actually study day-to-day?
The curriculum is built on calculus through differential equations, then moves into circuit analysis, electromagnetics, signals and systems, and electronics. Upper-division coursework splits into specializations: power systems, analog and digital circuit design, control systems, embedded systems, and communications. Lab work is continuous — you'll build and test circuits, program microcontrollers, use oscilloscopes and simulation tools like SPICE, and eventually complete a senior capstone project involving real hardware design and testing. The theory-to-application arc is steep but consistent: you don't get to the interesting hardware until the mathematical foundations are in place.
Do I need a bachelor's, or is an associate's enough for electrical and electronics engineering?
The associate-to-bachelor earnings gap here is among the largest in engineering. Bachelor's completers in this major report five-year median earnings of about $101,141, while associate's completers report roughly $56,769 — a gap of about $44,000. All six careers listed for this major identify a bachelor's degree as the typical entry credential, with the one exception being engineering professors, who require a doctoral degree. Associate's programs in electrical technology exist and lead to technician-level roles, but those are different job titles with different ceilings. If your goal is to work as an electrical or electronics engineer, a bachelor's is the functional requirement.
What kinds of jobs do electrical and electronics engineering graduates end up in?
The two core occupations are electrical engineers at a $111,910 median wage with 7.2% projected job growth, and electronics engineers (excluding computer) at $127,590 with 6.2% growth. Computer hardware engineers — who design processors and circuit boards — represent a higher-paying adjacent path at $155,020 median and 7.3% growth. Aerospace engineers at $134,830 are a frequent destination for graduates who work on avionics, flight control systems, or defense electronics. The senior-level trajectory leads to architectural and engineering management at $167,740 median, though that typically requires ten or more years of experience. Engineering faculty is also an option, but it requires a doctoral degree.
How competitive is the job market for electrical and electronics engineering graduates?
Growth projections across the careers most associated with this major are moderate to solid — computer hardware engineers at 7.3%, electrical engineers at 7.2%, and electronics engineers at 6.2% — all above the 4–5% average across occupations. The annual completions figure of about 14,900 is meaningful context: this is a mid-sized engineering major, considerably smaller than mechanical engineering's 33,400 annual completions, which means the candidate pool is more contained. Demand is concentrated in defense, telecommunications, semiconductors, aerospace, and the broader electronics manufacturing sector — geographic flexibility toward tech hubs and defense corridors meaningfully expands options.
Is electrical engineering the right fit, or should I consider a related major?
Electrical and electronics engineering is the focused choice if your interest is specifically in circuits, power systems, signal processing, or embedded hardware. If you want to work at the hardware-software interface — designing chips or embedded systems where code meets silicon — Computer Engineering (about 9,312 completions per year) may be more directly targeted. If you prefer physical machines, thermal systems, and mechanical design over electronics, Mechanical Engineering (33,431 completions) gives you more breadth across physical industries. If you're drawn specifically to aircraft, propulsion, or aerospace structures, Aerospace Engineering (6,386 completions) tracks more directly to those roles. Electrical engineering sits in a productive middle: more specialized than mechanical, more hardware-grounded than computer science, and with one of the higher earning trajectories across engineering disciplines.
What's a realistic earnings picture after an electrical and electronics engineering degree?
Five-year median earnings for bachelor's completers in this major run about $101,141 — above the median for mechanical engineering ($92,352) at the same point and well above the $56,769 figure for associate's completers in this field. The core occupations post strong medians: electrical engineers at $111,910, electronics engineers at $127,590, computer hardware engineers at $155,020, and aerospace engineers at $134,830. The career ceiling is architectural and engineering management at $167,740, which typically reflects ten or more years of experience. Entry-level salaries vary by sector — defense and aerospace often start lower than semiconductor and tech companies — but the overall trajectory is consistently above-average across the engineering disciplines.