IE

Types of Degrees IE Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many industrial engineering graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	5,205
Master’s Degree	2,737
Doctor’s Degree	346
Graduate Certificate	217
Basic Certificate	189
Associate Degree	28

What IE Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to ie were asked what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important for their jobs. They weighted these areas on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest.

Knowledge Areas for IE Majors

According to O*NET survey takers, a major in ie should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:

• Engineering and Technology - Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• Production and Processing - Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
• Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Skills for IE Majors

ie majors are found most commonly in careers in which the following skills are important:

• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Abilities for IE Majors

A major in ie will prepare for your careers in which the following abilities are important:

• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
• Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

What Can You Do With a IE Major?

Below is a list of occupations associated with ie:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Architectural and Engineering Managers	5.5%	$140,760
Engineering Professors	14.7%	$101,720
Human Factors Engineers and Ergonomists	9.7%	$87,040
Industrial Engineers	9.7%	$87,040

Who Is Getting a Bachelor’s Degree in IE?

This is a less frequently chosen undergraduate major. Only 5,876 students graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 2021, making it rank #72 in popularity. This major tends to be male dominated. About 65% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of ie majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	547
Black or African American	241
Hispanic or Latino	754
White	2,715
International Students	647
Other Races/Ethnicities	301

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in IE. About 12.4% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to IE

Some careers associated with ie require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

Find out what the typical degree level is for ie careers below.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Less than a High School Diploma	0.1%
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED)	5.9%
Post-Secondary Certificate - awarded for training completed after high school (for example, in agriculture or natural resources, computer services, personal or culinary services, engineering technologies, healthcare, construction trades, mechanic and repair technologies, or precision production)	6.3%
Some College Courses	11.3%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	10.9%
Bachelor’s Degree	42.7%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	4.3%
Master’s Degree	11.8%
Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level.	1.7%
Doctoral Degree	3.6%
Post-Doctoral Training	1.0%

Online IE Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	1	0
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	8	1
Bachelor’s Degree	21	9
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	91	16
Post-Master’s	5	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	58	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	0	0
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to IE

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to ie.

Major	Number of Grads
Mechanical Engineering	43,522
Electrical Engineering	27,809
Civil Engineering	20,728
Computer Engineering	18,973
Biomedical Engineering	14,006
General Engineering	12,241
Chemical Engineering	11,830
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	9,220
Systems Engineering	4,148
Materials Engineering	3,397
Other Engineering	3,221
Environmental Engineering	3,012
Electrical and Computer Engineering.	1,988
Operations Research	1,907
Robotics Engineering	1,759
Engineering Science	1,338
Agricultural Engineering	1,328
Construction Engineering	1,284
Architectural Engineering	1,090
Engineering Physics	1,047
Manufacturing Engineering	942
Petroleum Engineering	941
Nuclear Engineering	885
Biological Engineering	411
Marine Engineering	390
Geoscience Engineering	315
Mining Engineering	300
Textile Engineering	292
Polymer & Plastics Engineering	290
Ocean Engineering	290
Engineering Mechanics	209
Metallurgical Engineering	195
Energy Systems Engineering	187
Biochemical Engineering	141
Surveying Engineering	123
Ceramic Engineering	60
Forest Engineering	57
Paper Science & Engineering	48
Electromechanical Engineering	47
Engineering Chemistry	27

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.