Students celebrate commencement at Stanford University.Stanford University/Facebook
At Columbia University, most undergraduate students must pass a swim test in order to graduate.
Engineering students at the school's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, however, are not required to complete the test.
The reason? Well, in the event of a flood, engineering students could simply whip up a bridge or a boat to escape the raging water (at least, that's what the tour guides at Columbia will jokingly tell you).
Exemption from the swim test isn't the only perk of majoring in engineering at Columbia. Graduates of this program also typically go on to earn pretty hefty paychecks.
We recently reviewed PayScale's latest College Salary Report to get a sense of which school's engineering students go on to earn the most money — and found that Columbia landed the No. 5 spot.
PayScale, the creator of the world's largest compensation database, looked at the starting and mid-career pay for over a million college grads — including professionals who graduated with a bachelor's from 963 colleges and universities.
Its College Salary Report, which was compiled using data from employees who successfully completed PayScale's employee survey, sorts the results by school, degree, and college major.
Here are the 27 schools where students with a bachelor's in engineering go on to earn the most money 10-plus years into their career:
Notre Dame Admissions/Facebook 27. University of Notre Dame
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $65,500
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $124,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 8,448
25. (tie) Cornell University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $73,000
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $125,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 14,282
25. (tie) University of California — Los Angeles
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $73,000
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $125,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 27,565
University of Pennsylvania/Facebook 22. (tie) University of Pennsylvania
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $70,500
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $127,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 11,548
Northwestern University/Facebook 22. (tie) Northwestern University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $71,200
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $127,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 9,048
22. (tie) New York University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $65,200
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $127,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 16,483
19. (tie) Texas Tech University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $67,400
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $128,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 28,632
19. (tie) United States Military Academy at West Point
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $71,800
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $128,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,414
Washington University in St. Louis/Facebook 19. (tie) Washington University in St. Louis
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $66,600
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $128,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 7,401
University of Hartford/Facebook 14. (tie) University of Hartford
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $61,900
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $130,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,180
14. (tie) Carnegie Mellon University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $71,400
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $130,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,888
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)/Facebook 14. (tie) Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $77,500
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $130,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,512
Tufts University/Facebook 14. (tie) Tufts University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $67,700
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $130,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,177
(vincent desjardins)/flickr 14. (tie) Cooper Union for The Advancement of Science and Art
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $69,500
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $130,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 893
12. (tie) University of California, San Diego
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $68000
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $131,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 24,810
Manhattan College/Facebook 12. (tie) Manhattan College
Early career median pay for engineering majors:$63,600
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $131,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 3,471
11. Bucknell University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $63,900
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $132,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 3,565
10. University of California, Berkeley
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $77,800
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $135,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 27,126
9. University of California, Santa Barbara
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $70,800
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $137,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 20,238
Facebook/Boston University Residence Life 8. Boston University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $65,400
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $138,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 18,017
United States Naval Academy/Facebook 7. United States Naval Academy at Annapolis
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $82,700
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors:$139,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 4,511
University of Virginia/Facebook 6. University of Virginia
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $67,500
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $140,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 16,483
Columbia University in the City of New York/Facebook 5. Columbia University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $74,000
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $142,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 8,100
SUNY Maritime College/Facebook 3. (tie) SUNY Maritime College
Early career median pay for engineering majors:$65,000
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $143,000
Sector: Public
Undergraduate enrollment: 1,641
3. (tie) Duke University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $75,100
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $143,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 6,626
Princeton University/Facebook 2. Princeton University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $73,200
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $144,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 5,391
Stanford University/Facebook 1. Stanford University
Early career median pay for engineering majors: $74,200
Mid-career median pay for engineering majors: $153,000
Sector: Private
Undergraduate enrollment: 7,019
Find out how your salary stacks up on PayScale.