Money Names UA Engineering a Top-Value Grad Program

In Money’s most recent “The Best Colleges in America,” released in November 2023, the University of Arizona College of Engineering earned 4.5 out of 5 stars for its master’s programs. With scores based on annual costs, typical debt burdens, employment rates and early salaries, only three of the top 50 engineering programs earned 5 stars.

Money’s inaugural analysis of Best Graduate School Programs found that University of Arizona master’s engineering graduates have a 100% employment rate and an average early career salary of $94,070.

The College of Engineering offers 16 master’s and 11 PhD degrees. Online engineering degree options are available for many master’s programs as well as graduate certificates, and most departments have accelerated master’s degrees.

Steady growth in UA Engineering’s research expenditures, which reached $63 million in 2023, and strong ties to industry and government afford graduate students ample opportunities to do high-level research and internships, said Kelly Simmons-Potter, also a University Distinguished Outreach Professor in electrical and computer engineering, optical sciences and materials science and engineering.

For example, Maanyaa Kapur, an aerospace engineering master’s student and NASA intern, is helping analyze the sample from the asteroid Bennu, which was returned during the UA-led OSIRIS-REx mission.

Mechanical engineering doctoral student Aman Chandra serves as the design lead for the university’s CatSat, a small satellite set to spend six months probing the ionosphere – a layer of charged particles at the boundary between the Earth’s atmosphere and space. The mission will demonstrate the first inflatable antenna in space, technology expected to deepen understanding of the ionosphere and improve communication across vast distances.