Computer Scienceat University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez

The earnings data here tells a story about location, not program quality. UPRM is a highly respected engineering and science university, often called the "MIT of the Caribbean," and its graduates are aggressively recruited by mainland U.S. tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and NASA. The low reported salaries reflect the local Puerto Rican economy, which operates on a different scale than tech hubs like Austin or Silicon Valley. This creates a distinct two-track system for graduates: you can remain on the island and contribute to its growing but lower-paying tech scene, or you can leverage the school's powerful reputation to secure a high-paying job on the mainland.

Your key decision will be geographic. If you plan to work in the States, treat this degree like one from any other top state engineering school and network heavily with mainland recruiters who visit campus.