Master's · Stanford, California
Is Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University worth it?
Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 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 1.4 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $148,390
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $180,057
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $64,725
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published)
- $69k (likely $69k – $69k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $112k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 1.4 years (likely 1.1–1.8)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $841k (likely $621k – $1.10M)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $2.19M (likely $1.65M – $2.77M)
- Today's dollars
Change income, residency or loans Compare Mechanical Engineering at other schools
Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.
Other majors at Stanford University
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$261,816
- Law (First professional)$259,944
- Computer Science (Master's)$255,667
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Doctoral)$231,917
- Medical Illustration and Informatics (Master's)$230,298
- Mechanical Engineering (Doctoral)$218,808
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$214,907
- Engineering-Related Fields (Master's)$206,093
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's)$206,046
- Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering (Master's)$181,705
- Chemistry (Doctoral)$170,898
- Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions (Master's)$162,219
Mechanical Engineering at other schools in California
- Santa Clara University$170,120
- University of California-Berkeley$147,475
- University of Southern California$139,101
- University of California-Los Angeles$138,803
- California State University-Long Beach$138,465
- California State University-Fullerton$129,073
- University of California-San Diego$128,129
- California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo$127,908
- California State Polytechnic University-Pomona$123,084
- University of California-Davis$121,768