Civil Engineeringat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Graduates earn $71,790/yr in their first year — about 4.0% above the national Civil Engineering average. Base-case 10-year earnings $869K; scenarios range from $750K to $914K depending on AI disruption.
What this degree looks like at RPI
Graduates earn $71,790/yr, roughly in line with the $69,097 national median for Civil Engineering. The value proposition here depends on cost, not earnings.
The 3.5x return on tuition is positive but not overwhelming. Financial outcomes depend on keeping costs close to in-state rates.
AI risk is moderate — 49% task exposure — and the 18% scenario spread suggests disruption would dent but not destroy the earnings outlook.
With first-year pay of $71,790 far exceeding the $26,250 median debt, the payback timeline is measured in months, not years.
At #193 out of 220 programs, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's financial outcomes for Civil Engineering trail the majority of peers. The value case depends on other factors.
The five-year earnings trajectory from $71,790 to $94,283 shows 31% growth, reflecting steady but unremarkable salary progression.
Three scenarios, ten years out
Each scenario is a different assumption about how AI reshapes the career paths this major feeds into. Earnings projections stack the full 10-year cumulative trajectory; scores use the same 0–100 metric as the hero, recomputed under that scenario's assumptions.
10 year projection
Year-by-year earnings under each scenario. Base case reflects BLS growth patterns applied to RPI's starting earnings; optimistic and pessimistic adjust for AI's effect on each career path this major feeds into.
Common career destinations for this program's graduates, weighted by the school's specific occupation mix. Salary is BLS national median; AI risk is per-role task-exposure research.
Peer schools offering Civil Engineering
How RPI stacks up against other schools offering this major.
Other top programs at RPI
Other highest-scoring programs offered at RPI, ranked by DegreeOutlook Score.
Frequently asked about Civil Engineering at RPI
How does Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Civil Engineering program score?
A score of 59/100 reflects decent absolute metrics, but Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute trails the majority of Civil Engineering programs on relative rankings. Context matters more than the raw number.
How vulnerable is Civil Engineering to AI automation?
AI won't 'replace' Civil Engineering careers outright, but it is likely to reduce the number of job openings. We model 49% task exposure, which compresses field employment probability in our scenarios.