Aerospace Engineering
Students study the design, development, and testing of aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, and missile systems, applying advanced physics and mathematics. Graduates typically pursue careers at NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, and defense contractors, as well as in airline engineering and satellite communications. This is one of the highest-paying engineering specialties, with the growing space industry creating exciting new opportunities.
What Aerospace Engineering graduates do
Your degree prepares you to design the future of flight and space exploration. As a junior aerospace engineer, your days will be spent using design software to model stress on a new fuselage or running simulations for a satellite's orbital path. You'll analyze data from wind tunnels and test flights, working with large teams to solve complex integration problems. Alternatively, you could take a more hands-on route as an aerospace technician, installing and troubleshooting the intricate avionics in a cockpit or assembling components for a launch vehicle.
With experience, you can advance to a senior role or become an engineering manager, shifting from technical design to leading teams, managing project budgets, and making high-level strategic decisions. While management growth is steady, technician and university teaching roles are expanding more quickly. AI will become a key tool in this field, automating routine calculations and data analysis, which will change your daily work. The job shifts toward creative design, system integration, and validating AI outputs. The hands-on work of technicians, however, remains less affected by automation.
You may also want to evaluate Aerospace Engineering against Mechanical Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, and Biomedical Engineering on salary and long-run job outlook.
Where Aerospace Engineering graduates work
Common career paths for Aerospace Engineering graduates, with median salaries, projected growth, and AI exposure per role. Roughly 25,800 combined openings per year across these roles.
| Role | Median Pay | Annual Openings | 10-yr Growth | AI Exposure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Architectural and engineering managers
|
$167,740
$135K–$207K
|
14,500 | +3.8% | Moderate · 41% |
|
Aerospace engineers
|
$134,830
$105K–$174K
|
4,500 | +6.1% | High · 57% |
|
Engineering teachers, postsecondary
|
$106,120
$80K–$136K
|
4,100 | +8.1% | High · 50% |
|
Avionics technicians
|
$81,390
$65K–$99K
|
1,800 | +8.2% | Low · 24% |
|
Aerospace engineering and operations technologists and technicians
|
$79,830
$65K–$102K
|
900 | +8.1% | Moderate · 32% |
Best schools for Aerospace Engineering
Schools ranked by DegreeOutlook Score (earnings × AI resilience × ROI × job-market size). Top 10 of 57.
| # | School | DW Score | 1-yr Earnings | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 |
University of Maryland-College Park
College Park, MD · Public
|
76 | $78,631 | 22.1x |
| 6 |
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL · Public
|
76 | $70,760 | 38.3x |
| 7 |
University of Washington-Seattle Campus
Seattle, WA · Public
|
75 | $76,881 | 19.3x |
| 8 |
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide
Daytona Beach, FL · Private nonprofit
|
75 | $75,483 | 20.0x |
| 9 |
Iowa State University
Ames, IA · Public
|
75 | $75,036 | 21.0x |
| 10 |
San Diego State University
San Diego, CA · Public
|
75 | $74,375 | 27.2x |
| 11 |
West Virginia University Institute of Technology
Beckley, WV · Public
|
75 | $72,210 | 29.0x |
| 12 |
West Virginia University
Morgantown, WV · Public
|
75 | $72,210 | 24.1x |
| 13 |
Purdue University-Main Campus
West Lafayette, IN · Public
|
75 | $71,989 | 23.5x |
| 14 |
North Carolina State University at Raleigh
Raleigh, NC · Public
|
75 | $70,820 | 25.5x |
| 15 |
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, MI · Public
|
74 | $80,225 | 15.4x |
| 16 |
The University of Texas at Arlington
Arlington, TX · Public
|
74 | $78,005 | 18.0x |
| 17 |
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL · Public
|
74 | $75,859 | 16.1x |
| 18 |
The University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL · Public
|
74 | $73,887 | 18.7x |
| 19 |
Arizona State University Campus Immersion
Tempe, AZ · Public
|
74 | $71,712 | 19.2x |
| 20 |
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS · Public
|
74 | $69,056 | 22.9x |
Highest Earnings Top 5
| California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo
CA |
$85,509 |
| Case Western Reserve University
OH |
$83,639 |
| University of Colorado Boulder
CO |
$81,835 |
| University of Notre Dame
IN |
$81,057 |
| The University of Texas at Austin
TX |
$81,022 |
Best ROI Top 5
| University of Florida
FL |
38.3x |
| California State University-Long Beach
CA |
34.4x |
| University of Central Florida
FL |
32.3x |
| California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
CA |
31.6x |
| West Virginia University Institute of Technology
WV |
29.0x |
Aerospace Engineering vs Other Majors
See how Aerospace Engineering compares to similar fields on earnings, AI risk, and career paths.
Related majors
Similar fields of study often offered alongside Aerospace Engineering.
Frequently asked about Aerospace Engineering
What's the typical salary after a Aerospace Engineering degree?
First-year earnings for Aerospace Engineering graduates average $73,060 annually, based on data from 57 programs. The range spans $57,456 at the low end to $85,509 at the top.
What is the AI automation risk for Aerospace Engineering?
Our analysis classifies Aerospace Engineering as "High" for AI risk — approximately 47% of typical job tasks overlap with current AI capabilities. That puts some of the daily work in the automation-sensitive category.
What's the top-ranked school for Aerospace Engineering?
California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo leads all 57 programs with a DegreeOutlook Score of 77/100. Graduates earn $85,509/yr — the ranking weighs earnings, ROI, AI resilience, and job market size equally.
What's the outlook for a Aerospace Engineering degree?
The average 10-year earnings multiple is 16.4x tuition. This is a strong return on investment. The spread between the best and worst programs is wide, so individual school selection has a major impact.