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Energy & Mining Engineering

Colleges offering this major Rankings Trends

What you'll do in college

These majors prepare you to find, extract, and convert energy—oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and increasingly renewables. You'll take physics, chemistry, geology, thermodynamics, and specialized classes in well design, reservoir engineering, or mine planning.

Field trips and labs are common: you might log a real well, model a mine, or tour a drilling operation. Petroleum and mining programs spend significant time on geology and field operations.

What you'll do after college

Grads work at oil and gas companies, mining firms, electric utilities, and a growing number of clean-energy startups. The work can take you anywhere from offshore rigs to remote mines to research labs.

Pay is among the highest in engineering, but the industries are cyclical—booming one year and laying people off the next. The energy transition is reshaping the field as more grads work on geothermal and hydrogen.

Famous graduates

  • Herbert Hoover — 31st U.S. President; B.A. in Geology and Mining from Stanford University
  • George P. Mitchell — Pioneer of shale gas extraction; B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University

Selectivity vs. earnings

By acceptance rate

$101,619
162
100–80%
$120,380
309
80–42%
$114,032
159
35–0%
Acceptance rate · bar = degree-weighted earnings

By SAT median

$107,038
142
400–1180
$117,453
291
1190–1380
$113,746
153
1400–1600
Combined SAT composite median (submitters + non-submitters) · bar = degree-weighted earnings

Earnings by acceptance rate and institution category

$88,418p10 $135,718p90 STEM, Business & Military Public University Religious University Private University 20–30% 10–20% 0–10% Massachusetts Maritime Academy · $113,287 Missouri University of Science and Technology · $102,194 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology · $85,936 Montana Technological University · $110,308 Michigan Technological University · $84,435 Oregon Institute of Technology · $93,121 New Mexico Institute of Mining & Technology · $103,982 University of Wisconsin - Madison · $86,173 Texas A&M International University · $116,901 Texas A&M University - College Station · $140,534 Pennsylvania State University · $99,814 Virginia Tech · $100,156 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities · $96,079 University of Texas Permian Basin · $144,447 University of Alaska - Fairbanks · $88,418 Texas Tech University · $150,514 Louisiana State University · $126,350 University of Houston · $106,406 Rutgers University - Newark · $92,190 University of Louisiana at Lafayette · $121,503 Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania · $96,928 University of North Dakota · $117,519 University of Utah · $99,046 University of Nevada, Reno · $82,596 University of Arizona · $104,474 Mississippi State University · $105,590 West Virginia University · $99,337 Texas A&M University - Kingsville · $113,273 University of Kansas · $116,977 University of Kentucky · $93,218 University of Wyoming · $118,335 University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth · $97,793 University of Mississippi · $98,451 Saint Francis University · $89,421 University of Tulsa · $154,251 University of Rochester · $110,498 Marietta College · $113,355 University of Texas at Austin · $135,718 Colorado School of Mines · $90,526 University of California, Berkeley · $112,644 Stanford University · $108,877 UCLA · $105,634 STEM, Business & Military: mean $99,038 Public University: mean $108,193 Religious University: mean $121,836 Private University: mean $111,927 20–30%: mean $113,122 10–20%: mean $112,644 0–10%: mean $107,256 All colleges: p10 $88,418 All colleges: p90 $135,718
Each dot = a college · y = degree-weighted earnings

Majors in this category

Major Colleges Degrees ▼ Male/Female Intl Earnings Employment
Energy & Mining Engineering 44 630 75% / 25% 19% $108,567 97%
Petroleum Engineering 23 361 79% / 21% 29% $117,400 96%
Mining Engineering 14 122 80% / 20% 8% $98,180 98%
Geological Engineering 15 112 55% / 45% 2% $92,991 99%
Energy Systems Engineering 5 21 86% / 14% 14% $99,932
Energy Engineering 1 8 50% / 50% 0% $112,644
Energy Systems Engineering, Other 1 3 67% / 33% 33% $97,793
Geomechanics 1 2 50% / 50% 0% $110,498
Energy Science and Engineering 1 1 0% / 100% 0% $108,877