Engineering America’s Tomorrow at the Colorado School of Mines

America’s energy boom has created an abundance of high-paying and secure jobs in the oil and gas industry at a time when other sectors of the economy continue to struggle. As a result students are flocking towards degree paths that will help them break into the industry.

For example, the Colorado School of Mines has seen annual enrollment for undergrad petroleum engineering increase from under 300 to 900 in the last ten years. And it’s not alone. The University of Wyoming and the University of North Dakota have also seen record growth in petroleum engineering enrollment numbers.

Students pursuing this degree path can expect a high-paying job in a rapidly growing field.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the median pay for a petroleum engineer in 2012 was $130,280 per year. That’s nearly four times the median pay across all occupations.

Not only is the pay good–the demand for petroleum engineers is climbing. The BLS projects that employment of petroleum engineers is projected to grow 26 percent from 2012 to 2022, significantly higher than the 11 percent growth rate projected across all occupations.

As many young Americans are investing their future in America’s energy boom, the oil and gas industry is investing in their education. For example, the industry is paying for new equipment and classrooms at the Colorado School of Mines. And the oil company Schlumberger is even paying one of its employees to be an adjunct professor at the school.

America’s energy boom is providing job opportunities that simply didn’t exist ten years ago.  In an economy where many recent college graduates face unemployment or underemployment, the oil and gas industry is an encouraging bright spot that will only continue to grow.