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University Park, PA · Aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering at Penn State

Penn State graduates about 119 aerospace engineering majors a year, 1% of its graduating class. That puts it 14th of 69 schools we score for aerospace engineering, a strong program at 74 out of 100. Graduates in the major earn a median $99,000 four years out, about the national figure for the same major. Research spending in the field runs about $32 million a year, a rough guide to how many labs and projects undergraduates can join.

74/100Strong#14 of 69 for aerospace engineering →
Graduates a year1191% of the class
Median pay 4 years out$99,0001.04× the same major nationally
Research in the field$32Ma year, NSF
Admit rate61%whole school
SAT middle 50%1280–1410whole school

Around Penn State

A side entrance to the HUB, where there are meeting spaces, eateries and student
Hetzel Union Building, Penn State, west entrance viewPhoto: JohnDziak · CC0 · source
University Park, PA, USA
University Park, PA, USA - panoramio (8)Photo: thomasrive · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
The Thomas Building at Penn State University Park. It contains classrooms, the s
Thomas Building Penn State University ParkPhoto: JohnDziak · CC0 · source
Hetzel Union Building-Robeson Center at Penn State University
HUB Robeson Center, west side entrancePhoto: JohnDziak · CC0 · source

Where aerospace engineering happens

Buildings on campus that fit the field: Engineering Design and Innovation Building, Radiation Science Engineering Center Storage Building, Agricultural Engineering Building, Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building, Electrical Engineering East, Electrical Engineering West, Engineering Collaborative Research and Education Building, Earth and Engineering Sciences Building.

Named buildings on the campus map: Academic 279 · Dorm 62 · Student housing 45 · Athletics 13 · Arts 13 · Dining 8.

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Nearby in the aerospace engineering ranking

  1. University of Southern California 79
  2. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 78
  3. University of Washington 77
  4. University of Notre Dame 76
  5. Texas A&M University 73
  6. United States Air Force Academy 72
  7. Case Western Reserve University 71
  8. California State Polytechnic University–Pomona 69

Other strong majors at Penn State

How the score works

The score is out of 100 and compares Penn State 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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