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Cambridge, MA · Aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering at MIT

MIT graduates about 58 aerospace engineering majors a year, 4% of its graduating class. That puts it 4th of 69 schools we score for aerospace engineering, a standout program at 89 out of 100. Graduates in the major earn a median $115,000 four years out, 1.20× what the same major pays nationally. Research spending in the field runs about $38 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.

89/100Standout#4 of 69 for aerospace engineering →
Graduates a year584% of the class
Median pay 4 years out$115,0001.20× the same major nationally
Research in the field$38Ma year, NSF
Admit rate5%whole school
SAT middle 50%1520–1570whole school

Around MIT

Vacuum tubes for sale at the August 2026 MIT Swapfest (flea market)
Vacuum tubes for sale at MIT Flea.agrPhoto: ArnoldReinhold · CC BY 4.0 · source
2024 MIT pro-Palestinian protest camps
2024 MIT pro-Palestinian protest camps 09Photo: Peacearth · CC BY 4.0 · source
MIT Stratton Student Center, Eduardo Catalano, Massachusetts Institute of Techno
MIT-Stratton-Student-Center-Massachusetts-Institute-of-Technology-Campus-CambridPhoto: Gunnar Klack · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Cambridge, MA
MIT - Samuel Tak Lee Building - Building 9 (54960943010)Photo: ajay_suresh · CC BY 4.0 · source

Where aerospace engineering happens

Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 38 · Dorm 12 · Athletics 2 · Offices 1 · Arts 1 · Student housing 1.

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Nearby in the aerospace engineering ranking

  1. Georgia Institute of Technology 100
  2. University of Michigan–Ann Arbor 94
  3. University of Colorado Boulder 91
  4. Virginia Tech 87
  5. The University of Texas–Austin 85
  6. Purdue University–Main Campus 84
  7. Stanford University 82

Other strong majors at MIT

How the score works

The score is out of 100 and compares MIT with every school we score in aerospace engineering. It weighs what graduates earn four years out against the same major nationally (25%), research spending in the field (20%, NSF), how many undergraduate courses the department lists (20%), the student body's test scores (20%) and the size of the program (15%, capped so size alone can't win). 80+ is a standout program, 65+ strong, 45+ solid. Sources: US Department of Education (College Scorecard, IPEDS), NSF HERD, each school's current course catalog, OpenStreetMap and Wikimedia Commons.

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