Aerospace Engineer

What aerospace engineers make

The national median is $134,960 a year. The bottom tenth earn $86,700 or less and the top tenth $205,890 or more, in 2025 figures.

Your first job

That is one school's own figure for its bachelor's graduates in their first year. It sits below the federal survey's bottom tenth for aerospace engineers, $86,700, because the survey counts everyone already in the job, not only new graduates.

Where pay is highest

Washington State ($158,370) and California ($157,620) come next. Wisconsin is the lowest, at $88,400. Everywhere, chief engineers, program managers and technical fellows at the big manufacturers are at this end.

What it costs to get there

File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) every year. Engineering degrees also attract a lot of scholarship money, and paid co-op placements can cover a chunk of your tuition.

What comes with the job

• Paid internships and co-op terms

  Manufacturers pay students for six month placements, and many hires come from that pool.

• Tuition help for a master's

  Common at large employers, who will pay for a part time graduate degree while you work.

• Security clearance

  Expensive to obtain, so employers sponsor it, and it follows you around the industry.

• Retirement savings with a match

  A 401(k) plan where the employer adds money on top of yours.

The path to becoming an aerospace engineer, step by step

An accredited engineering degree is the whole gate. Everything after it is optional.

1. 1

   High school

   Grades 11 and 12

   Calculus, physics and chemistry. Strong math grades are what get you into an engineering program.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree in aerospace or mechanical engineering

   4 years

   Four years, accredited by ABET (the body that accredits engineering degrees in the United States). Embry-Riddle's aerospace degree, for example, runs 129 credits.

3. 3

   Internships or co-op

   Summers, or a six month term

   A paid placement at a manufacturer, a research lab or a government center. This is how most graduates get hired.

4. 4

   First engineering job

   Year 1

   You work under experienced engineers on one small part of a huge system. Expect two years before you own anything.

5. 5

   Optional license or master's

   4 or more years

   The Fundamentals of Engineering exam, four years of experience and the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam gets you a Professional Engineer license. Most aerospace engineers never need it.

High school courses that help you become an aerospace engineer

• Calculus

  Not optional. Aerospace engineering is applied calculus for four years.

• Physics

  Mechanics and thermodynamics are the actual content of the degree.

• Computer science

  You will write code to run simulations from your first semester.

• Technology or shop class

  Knowing how things are actually built makes you a better designer.

Time and money, at a glance

Licensing, and the rule that matters more

Engineering licenses are issued by state boards, coordinated by NCEES (the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying), which covers 68 member boards across the states and territories. The route is an accredited degree, the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, four years of experience and then the Principles and Practice of Engineering exam. Most aerospace engineers never do it, because companies that manufacture products are exempt. The rule that will actually affect you is ITAR (the International Traffic in Arms Regulations): most defense and space work requires United States citizenship or permanent residency.

Where people study

• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

  Campuses in Daytona Beach, Florida and Prescott, Arizona. Daytona Beach offers four tracks, Prescott two.

• Purdue University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan

  Large public programs with wind tunnels, propulsion labs and deep recruiting pipelines.

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology

  Small, extremely competitive, and heavily research focused.

• Your state university's mechanical engineering degree

  A perfectly normal route in. Many aerospace engineers hold mechanical degrees with aerospace electives.

Specialties inside the field

• Propulsion

  Jet engines and rocket motors.

• Aerodynamics

  Airflow, wind tunnels and simulation. Heavy on computation.

• Structures and materials

  Making something strong enough and light enough at the same time.

• Guidance, navigation and control

  Keeping the vehicle pointed where it should be. Very mathematical.

• Test engineering

  Instrumenting hardware and breaking it on purpose. Hands on, often at remote ranges.

Nice-to-haves

• A rocketry or design build club

  Rocket, drone and aircraft design teams are the single best thing on a student resume in this field.

• Computer-aided design

  Learn a real modeling package. Employers expect it on day one.

• Python and MATLAB (an engineering math and simulation program)

  The two languages engineering work is actually done in.

• A pilot's license

  Not required at all, but it changes how you think about flight testing.

Two industries in one

Defense and government work is stable, clearance gated and funded on long contracts: fighter aircraft, satellites, missiles, NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration) programs. Commercial space is faster, younger and harder on your hours, with launch companies iterating hardware in months. The skills are the same and people move between them, but the cultures are not alike. NASA hires through the federal jobs site and runs a Pathways internship program that leads directly to full time jobs.

What an aerospace engineer does day to day

Most of it is at a computer: running simulations, checking someone else's analysis, updating a model after a test result came back wrong. Then design reviews, where you defend your numbers in front of people who will find the weak part. A few weeks a year you are at a test stand or a wind tunnel instead, watching hardware do what the model said it would, or not. Documentation is constant, because everything that flies has to be traceable.

The honest pros and cons of being an aerospace engineer

Work life

Similar paths

• Mechanical EngineerDesign anything that moves, heats, cools or carries a load. The broadest engineering degree there is.
• Airline PilotExpensive to train, slow to start, and then a median of $232,140 a year at a scheduled airline.
• Avionics TechnicianThe electronics inside an aircraft: radios, radar, navigation and autopilots. A median of $82,280 a year after a short path.

A small field, growing fast

O*NET OnLine (the Department of Labor's occupation database) counted about 68,700 aerospace engineers in 2025. It projects growth of 7 percent or more by 2035, much faster than average, with about 3,800 openings a year.

Accreditation is a global system

ABET (the accrediting body for engineering degrees in the United States) has accredited 4,863 programs at 950 institutions across 42 countries, and more than 200,000 students graduate from them every year. If a degree is not accredited, licensing boards may not count it.

The space agency has a student pipeline

The NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Pathways Internship Program takes students for multiple semesters and is described by the agency as a direct pipeline to full time employment after graduation. Applications go through the federal jobs site.

Rocket propulsion is a degree track

At Embry-Riddle you choose between aeronautics, astronautics, jet propulsion and rocket propulsion inside the same 129 credit aerospace degree. You are picking your corner of the field before you graduate.