Nuclear Engineering

Types of Degrees Nuclear Engineering Majors Are Getting

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

Education Level	Number of Grads
Bachelor’s Degree	182
Associate Degree	50
Undergraduate Certificate	3

What Nuclear Engineering Majors Need to Know

People with careers related to nuclear engineering tech 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 Nuclear Engineering Tech Majors

This major prepares you for careers in which these knowledge areas are important:

• 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

When studying nuclear engineering tech, you’ll learn many skills that will help you be successful in a wide range of jobs - even those that do not require a degree in the field. The following is a list of some of the most common skills needed for careers associated with this major:

• 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

Some of the most crucial abilities to master while a nuclear engineering tech student include the following:

• 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?

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 tends to be male dominated. About 78% of recent graduates are men.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	0
Black or African American	4
Hispanic or Latino	4
White	33
International Students	2
Other Races/Ethnicities	7

Geographic Diversity

Nuclear Engineering Tech appeals to people across the globe. About 4.0% 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.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Nuclear Engineering

Some careers associated with nuclear engineering tech 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 nuclear engineering tech careers below.

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

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!

Trades Related to Nuclear Engineering

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

Major	Number of Grads
Industrial Production Technology	11,288
Electromechanical Engineering Technology	10,780
Environmental Control Technology	9,376
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology	8,822
Electronics Engineering Technology	8,347
Engineering-Related Fields	6,553
Mechanical Engineering Technology	6,205
Construction Engineering Technology	4,299
General Engineering Technology	3,841
Quality Control Technology	3,720
Computer Engineering Technology	3,509
Engineering Technology (Other)	1,907
Energy Systems Technologies	1,277
Architectural Engineering Technology	1,239
Civil Engineering Technology	1,155
Engineering-Related Technologies	969
Mining & Petroleum Technology	410
Nanotechnology	104

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.