University of the Pacific’s engineering graduates are among the highest paid in the nation, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal.

Pacific was ranked in the Top 20 among all private universities for annual earnings based on an analysis from the nonprofit Burning Glass. The average yearly salary for Pacific’s engineering graduates during their first 10 years in the field is more than $100,000, nearly $10,000 higher than the median annual salary.

Only five other private universities in California made the list, including Stanford University and the California Institute of Technology. Pacific ranked No. 18 in the nation, just behind Duke University and University of Southern California and just ahead of Tufts University and New York University.

“It’s a very impressive list for us to be on,” said Dean Elizabeth Orwin. “When our students come in, many are low income and Pacific is a game-changer for them. For them to be on a list of the top 20 private schools in the country for earnings for engineers is remarkable. It shows the tremendous impact Pacific has on its students.

“Our program is distinctive for a couple of reasons,” she added. “Number one, it’s personalized and the students and faculty work very closely together. Secondly, there is the experiential learning piece. With our CO-OP program and our senior projects, we prepare students to go off into industry having graduated with real-life experience. They are thoroughly prepared for corporate culture.”

Pacific’s CO-OP program is a paid, experiential internship that provides juniors and seniors with hands-on experience while they earn academic units towards their degree. Students have worked with industry leaders, including Northrop Grumman, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Intel, among others.

Plans are also in the works for a 10,000-square-foot makerspace that will dramatically expand learning opportunities for students.

The School of Engineering and Computer Science offers eight majors, including bioengineering, civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, engineering management, engineering physics and mechanical engineering.

An online graduate program in cybersecurity is launching this summer.