Bachelor's · Pomona, California
Is Mechanical Engineering at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.1 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $88,648
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $106,497
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $16,163
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $40k (likely $40k – $56k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $66k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 1.1 years (likely 1.0–1.4)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $429k (likely $348k – $506k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $1.21M (likely $1.03M – $1.42M)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 68%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in
- not reported / ≤ 10%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Mechanical Engineering at other schools
Other majors at California State Polytechnic University-Pomona
- Computer Science (Master's)$141,744
- Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral)$132,932
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$128,133
- Mechanical Engineering (Master's)$123,084
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Master's)$113,294
- Civil Engineering (Master's)$110,863
- Aerospace, Aeronautical, and Astronautical/Space Engineering (Bachelor's)$106,171
- Construction Engineering Technology/Technician (Bachelor's)$105,812
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Bachelor's)$103,924
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$103,494
- Chemical Engineering (Bachelor's)$102,849
- Computer Engineering (Bachelor's)$100,673
Mechanical Engineering at other schools in California
- Cal Poly Maritime Academy$126,395
- Santa Clara University$122,111
- University of California-Berkeley$119,371
- Stanford University$117,072
- University of California-Los Angeles$108,875
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo$106,750
- California Baptist University$105,046
- University of Southern California$104,649
- University of California-Santa Barbara$104,336
- University of California-San Diego$104,229