# Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary

US SOC code 25-1032. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/25-1032

Also called: Engineering professor, Engineering teacher, Engineering postsecondary teacher, Engineering faculty, Engineering lecturer.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **40,270** US postsecondary engineering teachers, with median pay of **$109,270** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the May 2025 count is the highest. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_301.20.asp) of **550** from 1870, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for postsecondary engineering teachers: MOOCs + simulation software, 2012 to 2022. MOOC adoption reduced postsecondary enrollment in some continuing-education and professional-development segments, but did not measurably contract degree-program engineering faculty employment.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 7.8% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-1032&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **41.7%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1823
- Latest US employment: 40,270 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $109,270 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [8]
- Outlook: +7.8% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [24]

### All 31 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1870 | 550 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National Center for Education Statistics [1] |
| 1920 | 4,800 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National Center for Education Statistics [1] |
| 1950 | 14,700 (estimate) | $5,200 (estimate) | Est., JHU Engineering Magazine (2009) (employment) [2]; Est., University of Missouri Libraries (pay) [6] |
| 1970 | 27,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., US Senate History [3] |
| 1975 | n/a | $18,400 (estimate) | Est., AHA Perspectives [7] |
| 1985 | 22,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., ASEE at 125 (history PDF) [4] |
| 1990 | n/a | $54,000 (estimate) | Est., AHA Perspectives [7] |
| 2000 | 34,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., National Center for Education Statistics [1] |
| 2003 | 28,990 | $69,700 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [5] |
| 2004 | 33,520 | $72,140 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [5] |
| 2005 | 34,500 | $74,540 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [5] |
| 2006 | 31,950 | $76,670 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [5] |
| 2007 | 32,360 | $79,510 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [5] |
| 2008 | 32,070 | $82,810 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [5] |
| 2009 | 34,270 | $85,830 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [5] |
| 2010 | 34,400 | $89,670 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [5] |
| 2011 | 33,660 | $90,680 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [5] |
| 2012 | 33,970 | $92,670 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [5] |
| 2013 | 34,870 | $94,460 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [5] |
| 2014 | 36,650 | $94,130 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [5] |
| 2015 | 37,270 | $95,060 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [5] |
| 2016 | 38,000 | $97,530 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [5] |
| 2017 | 37,500 | $98,360 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [5] |
| 2018 | 37,530 | $101,720 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [5] |
| 2019 | 36,080 | $101,010 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 38,520 | $103,600 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 35,440 | $104,940 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 36,010 | $103,550 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 38,370 | $106,910 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 39,910 | $106,120 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 40,270 | $109,270 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (91)

### Employment series

1. [NCES Digest of Education Statistics 2019 Table 301.20 — Historical summary of faculty and enrollment, 1869-70 through 2017-18](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d19/tables/dt19_301.20.asp), National Center for Education Statistics
2. [JHU Engineering Magazine (2009) — "For Those on the GI Bill, College was Serious Business": engineering enrollment 730 in 1946-47, 531 of whom were veterans](https://engineering.jhu.edu/magazine/2009/07/gi-bill-college/), Johns Hopkins University Engineering Magazine
3. [US Senate History — "Sputnik Spurs Passage of the National Defense Education Act": NSF appropriation for 1959 rose to $134 million, nearly $100 million higher than the prior year](https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Sputnik_Spurs_Passage_of_National_Defense_Education_Act.htm), US Senate
4. [ASEE at 125 (history PDF) — ASEE membership fell from 13,000+ in 1980 to 9,500 by late 1980s; early 1980s faculty shortage documented in DoE/NSF 1980 joint report](https://aseecmsduq.blob.core.windows.net/aseecmsdev/asee/media/content/about%20us/pdfs/asee-at-125.pdf), American Society for Engineering Education
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. [University of Missouri Libraries — Prices and Wages by Decade: 1950-1959 (BLS historical sources, professional salary context)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1950-1959), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
7. [AHA Perspectives — 1990 Faculty Salary Update: "Real dollar salaries in 1990 remained below 1970-71 levels; average increases 1972-1981 were less than inflation"](https://www.historians.org/perspectives-article/1990-faculty-salary-update/), American Historical Association
8. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
9. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

10. [Clemson Open Access — "Engineering Education in the 19th Century": Amos Eaton at Rensselaer pioneered hands-on practical education using specimens, field experiments, and physical demonstration](https://pammack.sites.clemson.edu/lec122/eng19.htm), Clemson University
11. [ASCE Historic Landmark — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: first degree-granting engineering school in English-speaking world, founded 1823](https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute), American Society of Civil Engineers
12. [EDN — "Last slide rule manufactured, July 11, 1976" (Keuffel and Esser Company, Parsippany NJ)](https://www.edn.com/last-slide-rule-manufactured-july-11-1976/), EDN Network
13. [Smithsonian Institution — Slide Rules collection: "throughout the 1950s and 1960s, slide rules were the symbol of the engineer's profession"](https://www.si.edu/spotlight/slide-rules), Smithsonian Institution
14. [Britannica — FORTRAN: "high-level programming language moving beyond a small coterie to include engineers and scientists"; used in universities by 1967](https://www.britannica.com/technology/FORTRAN), Encyclopaedia Britannica
15. [Wikipedia — Fortran: "IBM released FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation) in April 1957"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortran), Wikipedia
16. [Wikipedia — MATLAB: "MATLAB was first released by MathWorks in 1984"; became standard in engineering education through the 1990s](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MATLAB), Wikipedia
17. [ASEE at 125 history — "trend accelerated in the 1950s with the space race; by the 1960s engineering theory was paramount"; by 1990s computational tools had restructured curricula](https://aseecmsduq.blob.core.windows.net/aseecmsdev/asee/media/content/about%20us/pdfs/asee-at-125.pdf), American Society for Engineering Education
18. [Wikipedia — Blackboard Inc.: "Blackboard was founded in 1997; the company was the largest educational software vendor in the world as of 2010"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackboard_Inc.), Wikipedia
19. [Wikipedia — Massive open online course: "Coursera was founded in 2012 by Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller of Stanford; edX followed in 2012 with MIT and Harvard"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course), Wikipedia
20. [TALIC HKU — Gradescope training workshop (Feb 2025): mechanical engineering lecturer among facilitators; AI-assisted grading documented to cut time up to 80% on handwritten engineering problem sets](https://er.talic.hku.hk/gradescope-250212/), HKU Technology-Assisted Learning and Instruction Centre
21. [MathWorks press release — MATLAB Copilot launch in R2025b (Oct 7, 2025): natural-language-to-MATLAB code generation, code explanation, error clarification, test generation](https://www.mathworks.com/company/newsroom/mathworks-launches-generative-ai-powered-matlab-copilot-to-boost-productivity-and-accelerate-development-for-engineers-scientists-and-researchers.html), MathWorks
22. [Ansys — SimAI 2026 R1: deployed at 2,750+ universities in 92 countries; 10-100x faster surrogate simulation vs. traditional solvers](https://www.ansys.com/products/ai/simai), Ansys
23. [ASEE PEER 2025 — An Assessment of ChatGPT 4o's Performance on Mechanical Engineering Concept Inventories: "robust explanations" but limited diagram-based reasoning; implications for assessment design](https://peer.asee.org/an-assessment-of-chatgpt-4o-s-performance-on-mechanical-engineering-concept-inventories), American Society for Engineering Education

### Forecasts and exposure studies

24. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 25-1032 Engineering teachers, postsecondary (2025: 50.9 thousand; 2035: 54.9 thousand; +7.8%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=25-1032&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
25. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 25-1032.00, human-rated β 0.417)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

26. [ASCE Historic Landmark — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute founding history](https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute), American Society of Civil Engineers
27. [National Archives — Morrill Act (1862): signed by President Lincoln July 2, 1862; 17.4 million acres allocated](https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/morrill-act), National Archives
28. [JHU Engineering Magazine (2009) — "For Those on the GI Bill, College was Serious Business": fall 1946-47 JHU engineering enrollment 730; GI Bill funded 450,000 engineers](https://engineering.jhu.edu/magazine/2009/07/gi-bill-college/), Johns Hopkins University Engineering Magazine
29. [US Senate History — "Sputnik Spurs Passage of the National Defense Education Act": NSF appropriation rose to $134M for FY 1959](https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Sputnik_Spurs_Passage_of_National_Defense_Education_Act.htm), US Senate
30. [ASEE at 125 (history) — membership fell from 13,000+ in 1980 to 9,500 by late 1980s; early 1980s faculty shortage documented](https://aseecmsduq.blob.core.windows.net/aseecmsdev/asee/media/content/about%20us/pdfs/asee-at-125.pdf), American Society for Engineering Education
31. [ABET — Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, 2025-2026 (EAC): Criterion 3 student outcomes, Criterion 5 curriculum requirements; ABET AI Policy: "AI must not replace human judgement in the continuous improvement process"](https://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-engineering-programs-2025-2026/), ABET
32. [ASEE PEER 2025 — Navigating the Impact of AI in Engineering Education: Enhancing Learning Outcomes and Addressing Ethical and Assessment Challenges](https://peer.asee.org/navigating-the-impact-of-ai-in-engineering-education-enhancing-learning-outcomes-and-addressing-ethical-and-assessment-challenges), American Society for Engineering Education

### Predecessors & successors

33. [ASCE Historic Landmark — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute: "for twenty years Rensselaer was the civilian equivalent of West Point for training in civil engineering"](https://www.asce.org/about-civil-engineering/history-and-heritage/historic-landmarks/rensselaer-polytechnic-institute), American Society of Civil Engineers
34. [Morrill Land-Grant Acts Wikipedia — "states had little money for buildings, few qualified faculty, and not many applicants" at early land-grant colleges; faculty were largely drawn from practicing engineers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morrill_Land-Grant_Acts), Wikipedia
35. [NCES Digest of Education Statistics Table 325.45 — doctoral degrees in engineering: 417 in 1949-50 growing to 11,095 in 2020-21; the PhD is the modern entry credential for tenure-track engineering faculty](https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d22/tables/dt22_325.45.asp), National Center for Education Statistics

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary (25-1032.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-1032.00), accessed 2026-05-24
- [BLS OES May 2025 — Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary (25-1032): median annual wage $124,520; 40,270 employed; 8.1% projected growth 2024–2034](https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes251032.htm), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science/arXiv): LLM exposure framework; engineering and education fields both scored above-average text exposure](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ASEE PEER 2025 — An Assessment of ChatGPT 4o's Performance on Mechanical Engineering Concept Inventories: "robust explanations" but limited diagram reasoning](https://peer.asee.org/an-assessment-of-chatgpt-4o-s-performance-on-mechanical-engineering-concept-inventories), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ASEE PEER 2025 — Navigating the Impact of AI in Engineering Education: Enhancing Learning Outcomes and Addressing Ethical and Assessment Challenges](https://peer.asee.org/navigating-the-impact-of-ai-in-engineering-education-enhancing-learning-outcomes-and-addressing-ethical-and-assessment-challenges), accessed 2026-05-24
- [MathWorks — MATLAB Copilot launch in R2025b (Oct 7, 2025): natural-language-to-MATLAB code generation, code explanation, error clarification, test generation](https://www.mathworks.com/company/newsroom/mathworks-launches-generative-ai-powered-matlab-copilot-to-boost-productivity-and-accelerate-development-for-engineers-scientists-and-researchers.html), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Ansys — SimAI 2026 R1: 2,750+ universities in 92 countries; 10–100× faster simulation vs. traditional solvers; SimAI Pro (local GPU) and SimAI Premium (cloud-scale) tiers](https://www.ansys.com/products/ai/simai), accessed 2026-05-24
- [TALIC HKU — Gradescope training workshop (Feb 2025): mechanical engineering lecturer facilitating; AI-assisted grading cuts time up to 80% on handwritten problem sets](https://er.talic.hku.hk/gradescope-250212/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ABET — AI Policy statement 2025–2026: "AI must not replace human judgement in the continuous improvement process"; AI may support but not substitute accreditation review](https://www.abet.org/accreditation/ai-policy/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [ABET — Criteria for Accrediting Engineering Programs, 2025–2026 (EAC): Criterion 3 student outcomes, Criterion 5 curriculum requirements](https://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-engineering-programs-2025-2026/), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Federal Reserve FEDS Notes — Educational Exposure to Generative AI (Feb 2026): engineering and technology majors experience above-average AI occupational exposure](https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/notes/feds-notes/educational-exposure-to-generative-artificial-intelligence-20250226.html), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Gradescope — AI-assisted answer grouping: clusters similar handwritten free-response answers for rubric application at scale, used across mathematics, CS, and engineering departments](https://guides.gradescope.com/hc/en-us/articles/24838908062093-AI-assisted-grading-and-answer-groups), accessed 2026-05-24
- [Gordon's STEM Blog — Federal Agencies Are Not on the Same Page About AI in Grant Proposals (Feb 2026): NSF PAPPG 26-1 pending; NIH Sept 2025 policy bars AI-generated original ideas from funded applications](https://www.gordostuff.com/2026/02/federal-agencies-are-not-on-same-page.html), accessed 2026-05-24

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.