Worcester Polytechnic Institute

What are the graduation rates for students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute?

WPI's reported four-year graduation rate is 84%, and its six-year rate is 90%. These figures measure completion within specified periods for a defined cohort of first-time, full-time undergraduates; they are not the graduation rates for every transfer, part-time, or graduate student.

The reported first-year retention rate is 94%, meaning most students in the measured first-time cohort returned for the following academic year. Retention and graduation answer different questions: returning after one year does not ensure completing a degree on schedule. Students considering a major change, transfer credit, or a particular off-campus project should examine how those choices fit their own degree timetable rather than treat the institution-wide rate as a personal forecast.

What is the earning potential for graduates at Worcester Polytechnic Institute?

Federal College Scorecard program figures offer one view of WPI graduates' early earnings, but they are not salary promises. The supplied field-of-study measure reports earnings one year after completion for the federally aided graduates captured in the Scorecard's program data, rather than for every person who earned a WPI degree.

For example, the reported one-year figure is $86,601 for computer science and $68,074 for mechanical engineering. The corresponding figure for biology is $43,799. These are different fields with different early-career and further-study patterns, so the comparison should not be read as a ranking of educational quality or lifetime returns.

Scorecard earnings measures depend on the graduates included in the federal data and the timing of measurement. They do not account fully for location, hours worked, graduate study, job satisfaction, or later career progression. Students can use the figures as one input alongside likely borrowing, the jobs associated with a major, and WPI's career-support resources.