Depending on their course of study, engineering majors can expect a hefty payout for all the hard work they put in at college. In May 2024, the median annual salary for the architecture and engineering occupations group was $97,310, nearly double the $49,500 median wage across all U.S. occupations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects roughly 186,500 openings in these fields each year through 2034, with several specialties (industrial, mechanical, materials, and biomedical engineering, in particular) projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations. But the big checks come with a heavy theoretical and practical workload at college. If you’re thinking like a true engineer, you might want to optimize that difficulty against your chance of landing a full-time job and a beefed-up paycheck.
What is the hardest engineering major?
So, what’s the hardest engineering major? The answer is, perhaps unsurprisingly, relative, though this may come as a disappointment to some of our more objectively-minded readers. Levels of rigor vary from university to university, and one student’s astrophysics nightmare might be another student’s treasure.
Still, there’s a general consensus that some disciplines are more demanding than others, and economics doctoral candidate and U.S. Census Bureau research statistician Vitaliy Novik conducted a study to pin down exactly which ones. Novik, who studied and worked as an engineer prior to his doctoral research, surveyed nearly three million college students across 200 universities, asking them to rank the difficulty of their courses on a scale of 1 to 5. He then took those findings and built a list of the most difficult majors. The ranking below reflects his results, paired with the most recent 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data on what each specialty pays once you make it out the other side.
Hardest Engineering Majors at a Glance: Pay and Job Outlook
Before getting into each major individually, here is the headline data: 2024 median annual wage and 2024-2034 projected employment growth for each of the engineering specialties on Novik’s list, drawn from the most recent BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook data.
| Engineering Major | 2024 Median Annual Wage | Projected Growth 2024-2034 |
| Chemical Engineering | $121,860 | 3% (about average) |
| Aerospace Engineering | $134,830 | 6% (faster than average) |
| Materials Engineering and Materials Science | $108,310 | 6% (faster than average) |
| Nuclear Engineering | $127,520 | -1% (declining) |
| Mechanical Engineering | $102,320 | 9% (much faster than average) |
| General Engineering | Varies by specialization | Varies by specialization |
| Environmental Engineering | $104,170 | 4% (about average) |
| Biomedical Engineering | $106,950 | 5% (faster than average) |
| Civil Engineering | $99,590 | 5% (faster than average) |
| Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering | $101,140 | 11% (much faster than average) |
Two patterns are worth flagging. First, every engineering specialty on this list pays roughly double the all-occupations median wage of $49,500. Second, the highest-paying specialties (aerospace and nuclear) are not the fastest-growing. Industrial engineering, with a roughly $20,000-lower median wage than aerospace, is projected to add jobs at almost twice the rate.
10 Hardest Engineering Majors
1) Chemical Engineering
Novik’s list ranks chemical engineering as the hardest engineering major. The training pulls in concepts from many other STEM disciplines, including chemistry, biology, math, and physics, and then asks students to apply them across a remarkably wide range of problems. The field opens students up to a variety of careers, from nanotechnology to clean energy. Per Stanford University, the specialty is in high demand, and while chemical engineers traditionally work in the chemical, oil, or energy industries, they also find jobs in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, the fabrication of electronic devices, and environmental engineering. The 2024 BLS median annual wage for chemical engineers was $121,860, the second-highest figure on this list.
Related: Best Colleges for Chemical Engineering
2) Aerospace Engineering
In second place on our list is aerospace engineering. Aerospace students learn the science of flight for all types of aircraft. They can send you on vacation to Antarctica just as easily as they can send you to the moon. Many pursue careers in the defense industry. Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, aerospace engineers focus on aerodynamic fluid flow, structural design, guidance and navigation and control, instrumentation and communication, robotics, or propulsion and combustion. Aerospace engineers reported the highest median annual wage of any specialty on this list at $134,830 in 2024, with employment projected to grow 6% over the decade.
Related: Best Colleges for Aerospace Engineering
3) Materials Engineering and Materials Science
Students who study materials engineering and materials science are putting themselves at the frontline of physical technology. The rigor is correspondingly steep. Materials engineers go on to careers in which they create new products, many of which serve to improve our lives in concrete and quiet ways: the alloy in a hip replacement, the polymer in a solar panel, the composite in a wind turbine blade. Per Michigan Tech, materials engineers seek to understand the fundamental physical origins of material behavior in order to optimize the properties of existing materials. The 2024 BLS median annual wage was $108,310, with 6% projected growth through 2034.
Related: Best Colleges for Materials Science and Engineering
4) Nuclear Engineering
When you hear nuclear engineering, you might think first about energy production. That is one path students can take, but they also learn how to apply radiation technologies to disease treatment, food production, and space exploration. Programs are rigorous because the careers that follow are high-stakes. Per Penn State’s Department of Nuclear Engineering, the federal government hires nuclear engineers to design next-generation reactors for submarines, aircraft carriers, and space probes, regulate nuclear power or radiation uses, and develop advanced technologies that will be used in future power plants. The 2024 BLS median annual wage was $127,520, the second-highest on this list. Employment is projected to decline 1% through 2034, the only specialty here projected to shrink, though approximately 800 openings per year are still projected as workers retire or transfer out of the field.
5) Mechanical Engineering
Per Novik’s study, mechanical engineering is the fifth-hardest engineering major. In this major, you are going to spend a lot of time in the lab developing the capacity to design and evaluate products while learning valuable problem-solving skills. You will learn about motion, energy, and fluid, solid, and thermal mechanics. Your basic coursework will run the familiar gamut of physics, math, and chemistry, but you might also pick a concentration in areas like robotics, manufacturing, or automotive engineering. The 2024 BLS median annual wage for mechanical engineers was $102,320, with employment projected to grow 9% through 2034, much faster than the average for all occupations.
Related: Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering
6) General Engineering
A general engineering degree is a strong option for folks who know they want to study engineering but are not sure where to go in terms of their career. It can serve as a precursor to a more refined graduate program or more specialized on-the-job training. Many students find the major quite challenging because they must absorb concepts from multiple specialties at once. They also dive heavily into mathematics, experimentation, and design.
Not every university offers a degree in general engineering, however, so if this is something that interests you, do some research to see whether the schools on your list offer the major. Because general engineering graduates pursue such a wide range of careers, BLS does not publish a single median wage for the specialty. Typical compensation tracks the specific area a graduate ends up in (mechanical, civil, industrial, and so on).
7) Environmental Engineering
Environmental engineering is not for the faint of heart. You are studying the same rigorous subjects as the rest of the list, but you are also confronting the climate crisis head-on. If you are a person who cares about the environment, science, and problem-solving, you will thrive in this growing field. Coursework typically covers water safety, protection, and treatment; reduction and prevention of air pollution; and hazardous waste cleanup. Most top programs now also include classes that address green energy systems and alternative energy infrastructure. The 2024 BLS median annual wage for environmental engineers was $104,170, with 4% projected employment growth through 2034.
Related: Best Colleges for Environmental Engineering
8) Biomedical Engineering
Because of their focus on medicine and biology, biomedical engineering students study ethics alongside the technical material. They also wrestle with how various economic, social, global, and environmental factors might shape their work. The interdisciplinary coursework can make this one of the hardest engineering majors. It also sets graduates up for careers at the cutting edge of medical technology, prosthetics, biomechanics, and biotech startups. The 2024 BLS median annual wage for bioengineers and biomedical engineers was $106,950, with 5% projected employment growth through 2034.
Related: Best Colleges for Biomedical Engineering
9) Civil Engineering
Environmental engineers are not the only ones on the hook for planning a sustainable future. Civil engineers, who study infrastructure, water systems, and power supplies, learn to design earthquake-resistant buildings, enable the use of autonomous vehicles, develop processes to provide safe drinking water, promote green and sustainable infrastructure, and employ virtual and augmented reality to design human-friendly space, per NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering. The 2024 BLS median annual wage for civil engineers was $99,590, and BLS projects 5% employment growth through 2034 with approximately 23,600 openings per year, the highest annual opening count of any engineering specialty on this list.
Related: Best Colleges for Civil Engineering
10) Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Industrial and manufacturing engineering can be considered one of the hardest majors because it requires an interdisciplinary approach. Per Oregon State University, students and professionals in this field apply science, mathematics, and engineering methods to complex system integration and operations. Because these systems are so large and complex, industrial engineers need knowledge and skills across a wide variety of disciplines, the ability to work well with people, and a broad systems perspective. The 2024 BLS median annual wage for industrial engineers was $101,140, and employment is projected to grow 11% through 2034, the fastest-growing specialty on this list. BLS projects approximately 38,500 new industrial engineering jobs over the decade, the largest absolute jobs gain of any specialty here.
Related: Best Colleges for Industrial Engineering
What Courses Make Engineering Majors So Hard?
The difficulty of any engineering major is shaped less by the specialty name and more by the specific weed-out courses that gate access to upper-division work. Most engineering programs share a common foundation of demanding early courses, regardless of the specialty a student eventually picks. Talking to current students about how they fared in these courses is usually the best way to get a sense of what the workload looks like at any given university.
Across U.S. engineering programs, the following courses tend to function as the early gatekeepers:
Calculus I, II, and III. The calculus sequence is the spine of every engineering curriculum. Most engineering majors take three semesters of calculus during the first two years, with multivariable calculus typically the steepest of the three.
Differential Equations. Required for nearly every engineering specialty. This is the course that students single out most often when discussing the steepest climb in their early curriculum.
Linear Algebra. Increasingly required across all engineering disciplines as data-heavy and computational methods spread. Programs in electrical, computer, and aerospace engineering treat linear algebra as a core requirement.
Statics and Dynamics. The two-course sequence that introduces engineering mechanics. Statics covers objects at rest; dynamics covers objects in motion. Required for mechanical, civil, aerospace, and most other engineering majors.
Thermodynamics. Required for mechanical, chemical, aerospace, and several other specialties. Students consistently rank this course among the most demanding in the curriculum because of its abstract framing and dense mathematical apparatus.
General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry. Required especially for chemical, biomedical, and materials engineering. Organic chemistry in particular has a reputation across all STEM majors as one of the most challenging undergraduate courses.
Programming and Computer Science Fundamentals. Most engineering programs now require at least one introductory programming course in C++, Python, or MATLAB. This requirement has expanded substantially over the past decade as engineering work has become more computationally intensive.
The introductory courses at the beginning of any specific major are also typically quite difficult for new college students because they require a full-blown shift in your state of mind. You are essentially learning to think like an engineer, which, for better or worse, is probably not how you are thinking about the world as a high school student.
How to Choose Among the Hardest Engineering Majors
The hardest engineering major is not necessarily the one you should pick. The right major depends on a combination of your aptitude, your career goals, the schools you can realistically gain admission to, and the kind of life you want once you graduate. A few decision factors worth considering:
Career goals over course difficulty. The major that produces the highest starting salary or the most job openings is not always the major you should pick. If you are passionate about climate change and water systems, environmental engineering is the right call even though aerospace pays more. If you want to build aircraft, aerospace is the right call even though industrial engineering grows faster.
Job growth and openings. Industrial engineering (11% growth, 25,200 openings per year) and mechanical engineering (9% growth, 18,100 openings per year) are the fastest-growing specialties on this list. Civil engineering produces the most annual openings (about 23,600 per year) because of the larger total workforce. Nuclear engineering is the only specialty projected to shrink, though the field still produces about 800 openings per year as workers retire.
Lifestyle of the career. Civil engineers spend a meaningful portion of their time at construction sites and field locations. Aerospace and nuclear engineers often need security clearances, which constrain who employers can hire and what work the graduate can take on. Biomedical engineers split their time between labs and clinical environments. Industrial engineers tend to work in offices or manufacturing plants. The specialty shapes the day-to-day texture of the work, not just the paycheck.
Program strength at your target schools. Engineering specialties vary widely in quality from school to school. A top mechanical engineering program at one institution may be much stronger than a top biomedical engineering program at another. Use the specialty-specific best-colleges guides linked throughout this article to identify the schools where each specialty is genuinely strong.
Planning to Pursue One of the Hardest Engineering Majors?
No one declares an engineering major without knowing it is going to be tough. Classes like statics, dynamics, C++ programming, and chemistry routinely prove challenging to students who arrived on campus thinking they had a handle on math and physics. Introductory courses at the beginning of any specific engineering major are typically very difficult for new college students because they require a full-blown shift in your state of mind: you are essentially learning to think like an engineer, which, for better or worse, is probably not how you were thinking about the world as a high school student.
So, what’s the best way to gauge how hard courses will be in your specific major? Our advice: talk to older students about their experiences.
Cami M., an MIT class of 2023 student and writer for the school’s admission blog, ranked Differential Equations, a commonly required and frequently lamented engineering sequence course, as one of her overall favorites at MIT. She said:
“I loved this class, but mainly because I loved the professor and found him super engaging and his lectures really entertaining. The TAs were all super helpful and it’s one of the few STEM classes I didn’t feel stupid in.”
Cami’s experience sounds lucky in the way that good professors always feel lucky. Attending every class, showing up to office hours, and putting in steady, consistent effort across the semester is the best prescription for your college career no matter how hard your major is.
Additional Resources
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