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Major · Engineering

Engineer the metals, polymers, ceramics, and composites everything else is built from

Materials Engineering applies materials science, chemistry, and physics to the design and processing of metals, polymers, ceramics, semiconductors, and composites used across aerospace, defense, automotive, biomedical, and electronics manufacturing. About 1,195 degrees are awarded annually across 63 colleges, almost entirely at the bachelor’s level.

Schools offering
63
Annual completions
1,195
Typical degree level
Associate's + Bachelor's
Median earnings (5yr)
$92k

About this major

Materials Engineering applies mathematical, chemical, and physical principles to the design, synthesis, and processing of the substances every other engineered system is built from — metals, ceramics, polymers, composites, semiconductors, and biomaterials. CIP 14.1801 frames it as preparing graduates to work on materials requirements, system design dependent on materials factors, and the synthesis of new industrial materials, including bonding composites. In practice that means thermodynamics, phase diagrams, crystal structures, and mechanical behavior in the early years, then processing and characterization (microscopy, diffraction, mechanical and thermal testing) in upper-division courses, often culminating in a research-flavored capstone tied to a faculty lab.

The major attracts students who like chemistry and physics and want to know why a material behaves the way it does — why one steel alloy fails in fatigue while another doesn’t, why a battery cathode degrades after a thousand cycles, why a polymer hardens at one temperature and not another. Comfort with abstract reasoning matters because microstructure and properties don’t map cleanly without it. Lab work is constant: sample preparation, electron microscopy, tensile and hardness testing, and increasingly computational tools like finite element analysis and density functional theory build through the curriculum.

The field is small. About 1,195 degrees are awarded annually across 63 colleges, almost entirely at the bachelor’s level — a fraction of mechanical engineering’s 33,431 or chemical engineering’s 7,914. Bachelor’s completers report a five-year median of about $91,570, and the core occupation, materials engineers, posts a $108,310 BLS median with 5.7% projected growth. Cost estimators ($77,070) and engineering management ($167,740) appear in the data as adjacent and senior-level destinations, while engineering teaching ($106,120) is the academic path and requires a doctorate.

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
Cost estimators $77k -4.2% Bachelor's degree
Architectural and engineering managers $168k +3.8% Bachelor's degree
Engineering teachers, postsecondary $106k +8.1% Doctoral or professional degree
Materials engineers $108k +5.7% Bachelor's 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

$92k

Who this major is for

You may thrive here if chemistry and physics felt like puzzles rather than chores in high school, if the question of why a material fails interests you more than the question of how a finished product is assembled, if you’re comfortable with lab work and microscopy as a regular part of the week, and if a starting field with about 1,195 annual completions and a $108,310 median wage for the core occupation feels like a reasonable trade between scale and earnings. The smaller candidate pool is part of the appeal — competition for the title of materials engineer is contained, and demand from semiconductors, EV batteries, aerospace, and additive manufacturing is steady.

Think twice if your interest in engineering is mostly about whole systems — vehicles, power grids, buildings — rather than the substances inside them, since Mechanical (33,431 completions) or Civil (13,488) Engineering will feel more applied. Reconsider if you’re unwilling to consider graduate school: many R&D and national-lab roles, and all postsecondary engineering teaching positions ($106,120 median, doctoral degree typical), require an MS or PhD on top of the bachelor’s. And if process economics and bulk chemicals draw you more than microstructure and crystal phases, Chemical Engineering (7,914 completions) covers the same materials-adjacent territory with broader exposure to refineries, pharma, and energy.

Section 6 · Where to study

Top colleges for Materials 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 Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL 0 65 65
Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN 0 62 62
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA 0 60 60
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 0 59 59
Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX 0 56 56
University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA 0 41 41
University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI 0 39 39
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA 0 37 37
University of Florida Gainesville, FL 0 35 35
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 0 33 33
Section 7 · Explore sideways

Related majors to explore

Mechanical Engineering

33,431 completions/yr

Electrical and Electronics Engineering

14,891 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
Section 9 · Frequently asked

Common questions

What do Materials Engineering majors actually study day-to-day?
Coursework starts with calculus, chemistry, and physics, then moves into the four pillars of materials: metals, ceramics, polymers, and composites, plus electronic and biomaterials in upper-division courses. You spend significant time on thermodynamics, phase diagrams, crystal structures, mechanical behavior, and processing methods like casting, sintering, and thin-film deposition. Lab work runs continuously — sample preparation, microscopy (optical, SEM, TEM), tensile testing, and characterization tools build through the curriculum, usually ending in a senior design or research capstone tied to a faculty lab.
Do I need a bachelor’s, or is a graduate degree expected?
The bachelor’s is the working credential for the materials engineer title, and the BLS lists it as the typical entry-level requirement at a $108,310 median wage. The data packet shows a bachelor’s five-year median of about $91,570 across this major, with 1,195 degrees awarded annually almost entirely at the bachelor’s level. That said, a meaningful share of graduates pursue an MS or PhD before entering R&D scientist, semiconductor process, or national-lab roles — engineering faculty positions specifically require a doctorate. The licensure track for engineers (Fundamentals of Engineering exam, then four years of experience for the PE) is also more common in materials than people expect, particularly for those headed into structural, metallurgical, or failure-analysis work.
What kinds of jobs do Materials Engineering graduates end up in?
The core occupation is materials engineers at $108,310 median with 5.7% projected growth — typical roles include alloy development, semiconductor process engineering, battery and EV materials, additive manufacturing, and aerospace composites. Cost estimators ($77,070 median, -4.2% growth) appear in the packet as a related path for graduates who shift toward project economics in manufacturing. Architectural and engineering managers at $167,740 represents the senior-level ceiling, but the BLS frames that role as a ten-plus-year mid-career outcome rather than entry-level. Engineering teaching at the postsecondary level ($106,120) is the academic path and requires a doctorate.
How competitive is the job market for materials engineers?
The candidate pool is small relative to demand. Annual completions of about 1,195 are a fraction of mechanical engineering’s 33,431 or electrical and electronics engineering’s 14,891, and the 5.7% projected growth for materials engineers sits above the 4–5% average across occupations. Demand concentrates in semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace and defense, EV and battery production, and biomedical devices — sectors where US reshoring and capital investment are running steady. Geographic flexibility toward fabs (Arizona, Texas, Ohio, New York), aerospace corridors (Washington, California, Alabama), and battery plants (Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia) meaningfully widens options.
Where are the strongest Materials Engineering programs concentrated?
The 63 degree-granting colleges concentrate at large public flagships and elite tech universities. By annual completions in the packet, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (65), Purdue (62), Georgia Tech (60), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (59), and Texas A&M (56) lead. University of Washington, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Virginia Tech, University of Florida, and University of Michigan-Ann Arbor round out the top tier. Schools like MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and Cornell graduate smaller cohorts but anchor the research and graduate-school pipelines that feed national labs and R&D labs at semiconductor and aerospace firms.
Is Materials Engineering the right fit, or should I consider a related major?
Materials Engineering is the focused choice if you want to work at the level of how substances behave — alloy chemistry, microstructure, failure analysis — rather than designing whole systems. Mechanical Engineering (33,431 completions) is the broader physical-systems path and opens more entry-level postings. Chemical Engineering (7,914 completions) overlaps heavily on processing, polymers, and energy and gives you more flexibility in pharma and chemicals. Electrical and Electronics Engineering (14,891 completions) is the better fit if semiconductor device design appeals more than the materials side of fabrication. Materials sits at the smallest end of the major engineering disciplines, which is both its risk — fewer postings titled 'materials engineer' — and its advantage, since the candidate pool is contained.