Civil Engineeringat University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Graduates earn $73,397/yr in their first year — about 6.0% above the national Civil Engineering average. Base-case 10-year earnings $830K; scenarios range from $722K to $871K depending on AI disruption.
What this degree looks like at UIUC
Graduates earn $73,397/yr, edging above the $69,097 national average for Civil Engineering — a modest premium that suggests solid regional demand.
The 13.0x earnings multiple means ten-year projected earnings exceed tuition cost by an order of magnitude. By pure financial math, this is a standout.
AI risk is moderate — 49% task exposure — and the 17% scenario spread suggests disruption would dent but not destroy the earnings outlook.
At $19,000 in median debt against $73,397 in first-year earnings, graduates can expect to clear their loan balance in under six months of full earnings.
Ranked #94 out of 220 programs, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Civil Engineering offering sits in the upper half but doesn't break into the top tier.
The five-year earnings trajectory from $73,397 to $90,751 shows 24% 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 UIUC'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 UIUC stacks up against other schools offering this major.
Other top programs at UIUC
Other highest-scoring programs offered at UIUC, ranked by DegreeOutlook Score.
Frequently asked about Civil Engineering at UIUC
How does University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Civil Engineering program score?
A score of 71/100 indicates strong financial outcomes. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Civil Engineering graduates fare well on earnings, job market size, and return on investment.
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.