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Nuclear Engineering Major

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Nuclear Engineering

73 Associate's Degrees Annually
145 Bachelor's Degrees Annually
#46 in Popularity (Associate's)
$79,970 Median Salary

Types of Degrees Nuclear Engineering Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many nuclear engineering technology graduations there were in 2020-2021 for each degree level.

Education Level Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree 145
Associate Degree 73
Undergraduate Certificate 2

What Nuclear Engineering Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, nuclear engineering tech majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Nuclear Engineering Tech Majors

Nuclear Engineering Tech majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

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  • Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
  • Mechanical - Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
  • Physics - Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub- atomic structures and processes.
  • Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • 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.

Skills for Nuclear Engineering Tech Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to nuclear engineering tech:

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  • 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.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Operation Monitoring - Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
  • 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.

Abilities for Nuclear Engineering Tech Majors

As a nuclear engineering tech major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

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  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Perceptual Speed - The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).

Who Is Getting an Associate’s Degree in Nuclear Engineering?

73 Associate's Degrees Annually
21% Percent Women
19% Percent Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
Nuclear Engineering Technology runs middle of the road when it comes to popularity, ranking #46 out of all the trade school majors we track. In 2021, about 73 graduates completed their associate’s degree in this field. This major attracts more men than women. About 79% of the graduates in this field are male.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of nuclear engineering tech majors is as follows:

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Race/Ethnicity Number of Grads
Asian 4
Black or African American 2
Hispanic or Latino 4
White 51
International Students 6
Other Races/Ethnicities 6

Geographic Diversity

Students from other countries are interested in Nuclear Engineering Tech, too. About 8.2% of those with this major are international students.

How Much Do Nuclear Engineering Majors Make?

Salaries According to BLS

Nuclear Engineering Tech majors often go into careers with median salaries of $79,970. This median refers to all degree levels, so the salary for a person with just a bachelor’s degree may be a little less and the one for a person with an advanced degree may be a little more.

To put that into context, according to BLS data from the first quarter of 2020, the typical high school graduate makes between $30,000 and $57,900 a year (25th through 75th percentile). The average person with a bachelor’s degree (any field) makes between $45,600 and $99,000. Advanced degree holders make the most with salaries between $55,600 and $125,400.

Median Salary for a Nuclear Engineering Major  79,970
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Median Salary for a High School Graduate  ( 30000 to 57900 )
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Median Salary for a Bachelor's Degree Holder  ( 45600 to 99000 )
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Median Salary for an Advanced Degree Holder  ( 55600 to 125400 )
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250K

Some careers associated with nuclear engineering tech require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. In general, the more advanced your degree the more career options will open up to you. However, there is significant time and money that needs to be invested into your education so weigh the pros and cons.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to nuclear engineering tech have obtained the following education levels.

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Education Level Percentage of Workers
High School Diploma - or the equivalent (for example, GED) 30.8%
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) 18.5%
Some College Courses 7.9%
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) 37.2%
Bachelor’s Degree 6.5%

Online Nuclear Engineering Programs

In the 2020-2021 academic year, 14 schools offered some type of nuclear engineering technology program. 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) 3 2
Certificate (2-4 Years) 0 0
Associate’s Degree 13 4
Bachelor’s Degree 0 0
Post-Baccalaureate 0 0
Master’s Degree 1 1
Post-Master’s 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Research) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) 0 0
Doctor’s Degree (Other) 0 0

Is a Degree in Nuclear Engineering Worth It?

The median salary for a nuclear engineering tech grad is $79,970 per year. This is based on the weighted average of the most common careers associated with the major.

This is 100% more than the average salary for an individual holding a high school degree. This adds up to a gain of about $801,400 after 20 years!

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You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to nuclear engineering tech.

Major Number of Grads
Industrial Production Technology 11,466
Electromechanical Engineering Technology 10,550
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology 8,819
Environmental Control Technology 8,601
Electronics Engineering Technology 8,553
Mechanical Engineering Technology 5,909
General Engineering Technology 4,421
Construction Engineering Technology 4,066
Computer Engineering Technology 3,416
Quality Control Technology 3,088
Engineering-Related Fields 1,898
Engineering Technology (Other) 1,480
Architectural Engineering Technology 1,251
Civil Engineering Technology 1,182
Energy Systems Technologies 1,161
Engineering-Related Technologies 974
Mining & Petroleum Technology 445
Nanotechnology 16

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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