Chemical Engineering at Cornell University

Ithaca, NY · Bachelor's Degree · about 41 graduates a year

$85,578
Median pay 1 year after graduating
$116,165
Median pay 4 years after graduating
$98,158
National median for this major (4 yrs)
#4 of 158
Rank by pay
#30 of 158
Rank, wage-adjusted
$14,361
Median federal debt

Cornell University graduates in chemical engineering earn 18% more than the national median for the same major four years after graduating. Their median federal debt equals about 12% of one year’s pay at that point.

How Cornell University Compares for Chemical Engineering

All 158 colleges reporting chemical engineering earnings at this degree level, ranked by median pay four years after graduation. “Wage-adjusted” divides pay by the square root of the state’s wage index so colleges in low-wage states aren’t penalized for local pay.

#College4 yrs afterWage-adjustedAdj. rank1 yr after
1Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA$122,093$107,516#38$80,139
2Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN$121,641$132,880#1$75,639
3University of California-Berkeley Berkeley, CA$121,027$110,127#32$81,553
4Cornell University Ithaca, NY$116,165$110,565#30$85,578
5Lafayette College Easton, PA$115,726$117,694#7$79,602
6The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX$115,423$117,351#9$87,365
7Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Baton Rouge, LA$114,226$132,225#2$74,786
8University of Notre Dame Notre Dame, IN$113,614$121,887#4$83,377
9Rice University Houston, TX$113,605$115,503#13$87,830
10University of California-Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA$113,317$103,111#54$79,737

Other Majors at Cornell University by Graduate Pay

Major4 yrs after1 yr afterRank in major
Computer Science$223,309$152,656#3 of 349
Operations Research$151,709$96,377—
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering$147,241$100,516#4 of 258
Agricultural Business and Management$145,218$92,163#1 of 77
Computer and Information Sciences$144,389$103,650#18 of 459
Economics$137,935$84,967#12 of 368
Mathematics$134,455$87,251#7 of 309
Engineering$128,207—#2 of 57
Public Policy Analysis$126,767$77,906#1 of 34
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology$124,242$78,358—
Physics$118,649$50,933#2 of 107
Human Resources Management and Services$112,713$73,436#1 of 187
Hospitality Administration/Management$112,289$77,803#1 of 137
Mechanical Engineering$112,212$85,440#9 of 318
Statistics$111,090$82,531#8 of 50
Environmental/Environmental Health Engineering$103,016$69,558#1 of 46
Agricultural Engineering$99,600$54,435#1 of 26
Area Studies$96,976$43,831#1 of 70
Political Science and Government$95,391$60,292#7 of 565
Apparel and Textiles$94,967—#1 of 57
Civil Engineering$91,242$80,261#47 of 233
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics$89,275$33,419#4 of 225
Communication and Media Studies$88,463$62,182#3 of 660
Biological and Biomedical Sciences$85,883$38,841#3 of 17
Food Science and Technology$84,147$64,062#2 of 29
History$82,031$44,706#9 of 459
Chemistry$79,311$28,372#22 of 209
Psychology$78,049$36,630#6 of 1027
Sociology$73,200$36,709#9 of 462
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services$73,066$38,401#1 of 172

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Cornell University chemical engineering graduates make?

Graduates earn a median $85,578 one year after graduating and $116,165 four years after graduating. Figures are from the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard.

How does Cornell University rank for chemical engineering?

Among 158 colleges reporting earnings for chemical engineering graduates, Cornell University ranks #4 by median pay four years after graduation, and #30 after adjusting for state wage levels.

Is chemical engineering at Cornell University worth it?

Its graduates earn 18% more than the national median for chemical engineering ($98,158), and the median federal debt at graduation is $14,361.

← All data for Cornell University · Methodology

Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study data. Earnings are medians for graduates who received federal aid and were working and not enrolled; programs with few graduates are not reported. Wage adjustment uses Census ACS state median household income.