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Best Schools for Aerospace in 2026

57 schools ranked by DegreeWorth Score · Updated 2026

These are the top schools offering Aerospace, ranked by DegreeWorth Score. The score combines graduate earnings, AI automation resilience, job market demand, and return on tuition investment. The average Aerospace graduate earns $73,060/yr across 57 schools.

Programs Ranked

Avg Earnings

$73,060/yr

Avg DW Score

69/100

AI Risk

High

47% task exposure

All Aerospace Programs Ranked

Click any row for full AI scenario analysis, earnings projections, and career path breakdown.

#	School	DW Score	Earnings	ROI
1	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA · Public	77 74–78	$85,509/yr	24.4x
2	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public	77 74–77	$78,320/yr	31.6x
3	University of Florida Gainesville, FL · Public	76 74–76	$70,760/yr	38.3x
4	Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus Atlanta, GA · Public	76 73–76	$79,300/yr	20.7x
5	University of Maryland-College Park College Park, MD · Public	76 73–77	$78,631/yr	22.1x
6	The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX · Public	76 73–76	$81,022/yr	20.5x
7	San Diego State University San Diego, CA · Public	75 73–76	$74,375/yr	27.2x
8	Iowa State University Ames, IA · Public	75 72–75	$75,036/yr	21.0x
9	North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC · Public	75 73–75	$70,820/yr	25.5x
10	University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA · Public	75 72–76	$76,881/yr	19.3x
11	West Virginia University Institute of Technology Beckley, WV · Public	75 73–76	$72,210/yr	29.0x
12	West Virginia University Morgantown, WV · Public	75 73–75	$72,210/yr	24.1x
13	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	75 73–75	$71,989/yr	23.5x
14	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide Daytona Beach, FL · Private nonprofit	75 72–75	$75,483/yr	20.0x
15	The University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL · Public	74 71–74	$73,887/yr	18.7x
16	Arizona State University Campus Immersion Tempe, AZ · Public	74 72–74	$71,712/yr	19.2x
17	California State University-Long Beach Long Beach, CA · Public	74 73–75	$66,477/yr	34.4x
18	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL · Public	74 71–74	$75,859/yr	16.1x
19	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI · Public	74 71–75	$80,225/yr	15.4x
20	Mississippi State University Mississippi State, MS · Public	74 72–74	$69,056/yr	22.9x
21	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM · Public	74 73–75	$68,002/yr	28.3x
22	The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX · Public	74 71–74	$78,005/yr	18.0x
23	University of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO · Public	73 71–74	$81,835/yr	14.7x
24	University of Central Florida Orlando, FL · Public	73 72–74	$67,953/yr	32.3x
25	Missouri University of Science and Technology Rolla, MO · Public	73 70–73	$76,183/yr	15.6x
26	Texas A & M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	73 71–74	$74,524/yr	17.4x
27	Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA · Public	73 70–74	$76,856/yr	15.2x
28	Auburn University Auburn, AL · Public	72 71–73	$68,607/yr	18.1x
29	University of California-Davis Davis, CA · Public	72 70–72	$71,633/yr	15.1x
30	University of California-Irvine Irvine, CA · Public	72 71–73	$67,425/yr	17.0x
31	University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA · Public	72 70–73	$71,068/yr	16.7x
32	University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA · Public	72 70–72	$65,401/yr	16.6x
33	Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI · Public	72 70–72	$69,514/yr	15.5x
34	Ohio State University-Main Campus Columbus, OH · Public	72 69–72	$72,062/yr	16.2x
35	University at Buffalo Buffalo, NY · Public	71 70–72	$69,716/yr	18.4x
36	University of Cincinnati-Main Campus Cincinnati, OH · Public	71 69–72	$74,992/yr	15.0x
37	University of Arizona Tucson, AZ · Public	70 70–71	$57,456/yr	18.0x
38	Wichita State University Wichita, KS · Public	70 70–71	$61,526/yr	21.1x
39	University of Virginia-Main Campus Charlottesville, VA · Public	68 66–69	$77,922/yr	10.1x
40	University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Minneapolis, MN · Public	66 65–67	$68,495/yr	11.4x
41	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Prescott Prescott, AZ · Private nonprofit	63 61–64	$75,483/yr	4.8x
42	University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA · Private nonprofit	63 60–63	$78,980/yr	3.2x
43	Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Daytona Beach Daytona Beach, FL · Private nonprofit	63 61–64	$75,483/yr	4.8x
44	Florida Institute of Technology Melbourne, FL · Private nonprofit	62 60–62	$69,149/yr	4.6x
45	University of Oklahoma-Norman Campus Norman, OK · Public	62 60–63	$72,607/yr	17.9x
46	University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN · Private nonprofit	61 58–62	$81,057/yr	2.9x
47	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester, MA · Private nonprofit	61 58–61	$75,218/yr	3.2x
48	University of Kansas Lawrence, KS · Public	60 58–60	$71,244/yr	14.2x
49	Saint Louis University Saint Louis, MO · Private nonprofit	60 58–61	$75,122/yr	3.3x
50	Clarkson University Potsdam, NY · Private nonprofit	60 58–60	$71,783/yr	3.1x
51	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY · Private nonprofit	60 58–60	$73,213/yr	3.0x
52	Syracuse University Syracuse, NY · Private nonprofit	60 57–60	$71,417/yr	2.9x
53	Oklahoma State University-Main Campus Stillwater, OK · Public	60 59–61	$68,226/yr	15.7x
54	University of Alabama in Huntsville Huntsville, AL · Public	59 58–60	$70,383/yr	13.9x
55	Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, OH · Private nonprofit	59 56–60	$83,639/yr	2.5x
56	Rutgers University-New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ · Public	55 53–55	$69,320/yr	9.1x
57	Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL · Private nonprofit	53 52–54	$63,169/yr	2.7x

Methodology

Programs are ranked by DegreeWorth Score, which combines four equally weighted factors: graduate earnings (Year 1 after graduation), AI automation resilience (based on OpenAI and academic research), job market size (BLS annual openings), and earnings-to-tuition multiple (10-year projected earnings vs. 4-year tuition).

Earnings data comes from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, which reports actual median earnings of graduates — not self-reported surveys.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best school for Aerospace?

Based on our DegreeWorth Score, California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo ranks #1 for Aerospace with a score of 77/100 and graduate earnings of $85,509/yr.

How much do Aerospace graduates earn?

Across 57 schools, Aerospace graduates earn an average of $73,060/yr in their first year. The highest-earning program reports $85,509/yr.

Is Aerospace a good major for AI resistance?

Aerospace has an average AI task exposure of 47%, rated "High". This field has moderate AI exposure — some career paths are more resilient than others.

Data: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (earnings, debt), Bureau of Labor Statistics 2024–2034 (employment projections), OpenAI GPTs-are-GPTs research (AI task exposure), Felten et al. AIOE. Last updated 2025.