Is an Online Electrical Engineering Degree Worth It? (2026)

Updated September 5, 2026 BLS data College Scorecard On this page

Whether an online electrical engineering degree is worth it depends on which degree you actually enroll in, and individual outcomes may vary. The wage evidence for the field is strong: electrical engineers had a median annual wage of $120,630, with employment projected to grow 7.2 percent from 2024 to 2034 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). The complication is delivery, not demand. A fully online, ABET-accredited bachelor’s in electrical engineering is rare, and the programs marketed as online alternatives are often something else: a degree-completion track that assumes you already did the math and physics on campus, an electrical engineering technology degree accredited under a different ABET commission, or a hybrid program with required campus laboratory weeks. Each of those can be worth it. They are not the same product, and the difference shows up years later at a licensing board or in a hiring screen.

Back to Electrical Engineering Program Guide

What kinds of roles does an electrical engineering degree support?

Bar chart of the fastest-growing electrical engineering careers by projected job growth 2024 to 2034 (BLS Employment Projections): Mechanical Engineers 9.1%; Computer Hardware Engineers 7.3%; Electrical Engineers 7.2%; Electronics Engineers, Except Computer 6.2%; Architectural and Engineering Managers 3.8%; Engineers, All Other 2.1%; Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians 0.6%; Electrical and Electronics Drafters -5.6%
Projected job growth (2024-2034) for electrical engineering careers. Source: BLS Employment Projections. Chart: Best Online College.
View the data behind this chart
Fastest-growing electrical engineering careers. Source: BLS Employment Projections (2024-2034)
OccupationProjected job growth (2024-2034)
Mechanical Engineers9.1%
Computer Hardware Engineers7.3%
Electrical Engineers7.2%
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer6.2%
Architectural and Engineering Managers3.8%
Engineers, All Other2.1%
Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologists and Technicians0.6%
Electrical and Electronics Drafters-5.6%
Embed or cite this chart

Copy this code to embed the chart (a link back to this page is included):

Electrical engineers is the core occupation: a median annual wage of $120,630, a 10th percentile of $76,550, a 90th percentile of $184,300, employment of 192,000 in 2024, projected growth of 7.2 percent, and 11,700 openings per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Work sits in utilities, manufacturing, aerospace and defense, semiconductors, transportation, and engineering services.

Electronics engineers, except computer, had a median annual wage of $130,220, employment of 95,900, projected growth of 6.2 percent, and 5,700 openings per year. Computer hardware engineers had a median annual wage of $161,740, employment of 76,800, projected growth of 7.3 percent, and 4,700 openings per year. Both are smaller occupations than electrical engineering itself, and both concentrate in specific industries and metros.

Read the technician tier separately. Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians had a median annual wage of $78,190 with 0.6 percent projected growth, and electrical and electronics drafters had a median annual wage of $76,870 with a projected 5.6 percent decline (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Those roles hire mostly from associate and technology programs. If your online program is a technology degree rather than an engineering degree, that tier is closer to your default hiring pool than the design tier is, at least at entry.

Career outcomes vary widely by employer, industry, geography, clearance eligibility, and experience. For general context, consult the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Does the online format hurt an engineering degree?

Two different questions get collapsed here, and separating them is the whole analysis.

Does an employer discount an online transcript? Generally not, if the institution is accredited and the program is ABET-accredited. Diplomas rarely state the delivery mode, and engineering hiring screens on the degree, the coursework, the projects, and the interview. In hardware interviews you will be asked to reason about a circuit on a whiteboard. Nobody asks where you sat.

Can a program deliver the laboratory experience honestly at a distance? That is the real question, and the answer is program by program. Mailed lab kits with a mixed-signal instrument and a breadboard cover introductory circuits reasonably well. Power laboratories, high-frequency measurement, and semiconductor fabrication do not travel. Programs solve this with campus intensives, partner laboratories, or remote-access benches, and quality varies. A program that has no clear answer about laboratories is the warning sign, not the online format itself.

Do I need the degree, or could a certificate or technology program do it?

For design engineering roles, the degree is close to non-negotiable. Job postings ask for a BS in electrical engineering or a closely related field, and the ABET-accredited version is what state boards recognize if licensure ever matters. There is no portfolio route into analog design the way there is into software.

For technician, field service, test, and controls roles, the picture is different and worth saying plainly: many of those jobs do not require a BSEE. An associate degree, an engineering technology degree, military electronics training, or manufacturer certifications can get you hired, and those roles are real careers. The wage tier is lower – electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians had a median annual wage of $78,190 against $120,630 for electrical engineers (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS) – and the ceiling is lower too. Choose deliberately rather than discovering the distinction after enrolling.

How should I think about cost versus expected benefit?

Cost varies significantly by institution type, residency status, degree level, whether an engineering differential applies, and how many credits transfer in, so no single national figure applies to every student. Request each school’s total program cost estimate and factor in:

  • Total credits required, which commonly exceeds the usual 120 semester hours at the bachelor’s level
  • Whether an engineering or laboratory differential applies to online students
  • Laboratory kit, proctoring, and software license charges
  • Travel and lodging for any required campus laboratory sessions
  • How the weekly time commitment fits alongside your current work

Then weigh it against a specific question. If the answer to “what does this give me” is “eligibility for design engineering roles and, if I want it, the licensure path,” the ABET-accredited program is worth paying more for than a cheaper unaccredited one. If the answer is “a credential for the technician job I already have,” a technology degree may be the better-value purchase. See Affordable Online Electrical Engineering Degrees.

Individual outcomes vary. An electrical engineering degree does not guarantee a specific job, salary, or licensure outcome. Results depend on the specific program and its accreditation, your coursework and projects, the job market at graduation, and factors outside the degree itself.

Does degree level change the picture?

Yes, and in an unusual direction for this site.

At the bachelor’s level, the degree carries the most weight and is the hardest to obtain online. It is the credential job postings name and the one state boards recognize through ABET. If you can only complete one degree, this is the one that matters, and it is worth structuring your life around a hybrid or degree-completion program that is genuinely accredited.

At the master’s level, online delivery is mature and the value proposition is narrower: specialization for someone already working as an engineer. It is a strong purchase for a test engineer moving into power systems or a hardware engineer moving into signal processing. It is a weak substitute for a missing ABET bachelor’s, and it is a poor first move for a recent graduate who has not yet learned which specialization the work actually rewards.

  • Electrical engineering covers power, analog and radio-frequency electronics, control, signals, and hardware design. Mathematically demanding, laboratory-heavy, ABET-gated.
  • Computer engineering concentrates on digital systems, computer architecture, and the hardware-software boundary. Choose it if processors, embedded firmware, and digital design are the target.
  • Engineering as a general guide helps if you have not chosen a discipline; its electrical engineering concentration shows how the specialization sits inside a broader degree.
  • Engineering management is for practicing engineers moving toward budgets, teams, and project ownership rather than deeper technical specialization.
  • Technology covers applied systems and information technology work, which is more available online and does not carry ABET engineering accreditation.

Who might reconsider an electrical engineering degree?

An electrical engineering degree may not be the best fit if you:

  • Cannot complete a real laboratory sequence, whether through kits, a partner lab, or campus intensives
  • Are unwilling or unable to work through calculus, differential equations, and calculus-based physics as hard prerequisites
  • Want a fully remote degree with no in-person component and are not willing to accept a technology degree instead
  • Are targeting technician, field service, or installation work, where a shorter credential often hires equally well
  • Assume a master’s will substitute for a bachelor’s that is not ABET-accredited on the licensure path
  • Expect that any program using the words “electrical engineering” carries the same accreditation and the same job access

How can you evaluate fit before enrolling?

  1. Name the target role – design engineering, power and utilities, hardware, or technician work. These point at different degrees.
  2. Verify institutional accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education database.
  3. Verify the program through ABET, and confirm which commission accredits it. Engineering and engineering technology are different credentials.
  4. Read the laboratory plan in writing – how labs are delivered, how many campus trips, on which dates.
  5. Audit the math entry point – whether you are expected to arrive with the calculus and physics sequence finished.
  6. Check your state board if licensure is in your plan, before enrolling rather than after graduating.
  7. Request total program cost estimates from several schools, including the engineering differential and laboratory charges; see Affordable Online Electrical Engineering Degrees.

Frequently asked questions

Is an online electrical engineering degree respected by employers?

Generally, yes, when the institution is accredited and the program is ABET-accredited under the Engineering Accreditation Commission. Employers screen on the degree and the accreditation, not the delivery mode. What they do notice is the difference between an engineering degree and an engineering technology degree, and that difference is on your transcript regardless of format.

Can I become an electrical engineer without an ABET-accredited degree?

You can work as an engineer in many industry roles without one, because most electrical engineering work is not licensed. You will face a narrower set of employers, and in most states the Professional Engineer licensure path becomes substantially harder, typically requiring more documented experience. If you want that option open, the ABET-accredited bachelor’s is the straightforward route.

Is the PE license worth pursuing?

It depends on your lane. In consulting, utility work, and public infrastructure, it is close to a requirement for advancement and for signing engineering documents. In semiconductor, consumer electronics, and most manufacturing work, many senior engineers never license. Taking the Fundamentals of Engineering exam in your final year is cheap insurance either way.

Does the salary data justify the difficulty?

Electrical engineers had a median annual wage of $120,630 with a 90th percentile of $184,300, and projected growth of 7.2 percent from 2024 to 2034 with 11,700 openings per year (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). That is a strong return by degree standards. The honest caveat is that the figure describes people who completed the degree, and this major has real attrition in the math and circuits sequence.

How do I know if an electrical engineering degree is worth it for me specifically?

Ask whether you can complete calculus through differential equations, whether you can meet the laboratory requirement the program imposes, whether the program is ABET-accredited under the engineering commission, and whether the role you want actually requires the degree rather than a shorter technical credential. Individual outcomes vary, so weigh these against your own circumstances.

Data verified: September 5, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.

Back to Best Online Electrical Engineering Degrees (2026)