Missouri
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
Missouri at China’s rate would graduate 11,273 engineers a year. It graduates 3,626.
Missouri produces 3,626 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 33,955 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 37 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 11,273. Output is growing (+6.6% over three years). Gap Score: 32% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 8,530 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 49% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
Missouri is missing 7,647 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 8x the annual output of Missouri University of Science and Technology.
Where Missouri’s engineers are made.
37 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Missouri. The top 8 account for 80% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Missouri University of Science and Technology | 937 | 78.6% |
| 2 | University of Missouri-Columbia | 609 | 10.1% |
| 3 | Washington University in St Louis | 490 | 24.4% |
| 4 | University of Missouri-Kansas City | 226 | 13.9% |
| 5 | University of Missouri-St Louis | 178 | 12.4% |
| 6 | Saint Louis University | 172 | 10.6% |
| 7 | Missouri State University-Springfield | 158 | 5.1% |
| 8 | University of Central Missouri | 133 | 9.4% |
Jobs vs. degrees
Missouri's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 1,420 |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 1,010 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 920 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 660 |
| Civil Engineers | 420 |
| Industrial Engineers | 410 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Missouri labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Missouri's fighter jets, intelligence campus and data centers
Missouri's largest projects are a sixth-generation fighter line at Boeing St. Louis, a $1.75B geospatial-intelligence campus in north St. Louis, and a Kansas City data-center rush that has drawn tens of billions in tax-abated capital. Those employers need engineers, and the state graduates about 3,600 engineers and computer scientists a year.
The drain.
Missouri keeps most of its flagship's graduates but grows slower than the nation, relies on immigration for most of its population gain, and its own employers doubt the state can hold top talent.
Sources: University of Missouri Career Outcomes; MU Extension; Missouri Chamber of Commerce; St. Louis Public Radio
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in Missouri.
Tie abatements to engineers trained
Missouri's data-center sales-tax exemption requires as few as 10 jobs, and Independence gave up $6.26B for ~130. Condition Missouri Works, Chapter 100 and data-center exemptions on funding Digital ROTC seats at Metropolitan Community College and STLCC, so each abated campus underwrites local technicians and engineers who serve a term in-state.
Put Boeing and NGA on the ROTC model
Boeing's expansion came with $8.5M in Missouri One Start training money and NGA needs a geospatial workforce next door. Route that training aid through service-for-tuition: state pays community-college and Missouri S&T tuition, graduates commit to years at St. Louis defense and intelligence employers, so retention is built in.
Pay to keep the 30% who leave
Mizzou already keeps ~70% of graduates in Missouri; the S&T-Missouri State cooperative engineering pipeline can do the same if debt is the lever. A Digital ROTC tuition write-down for engineering and CS graduates who work in Missouri would help a state that relies on immigration for growth keep the engineers it trains.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Missouri, 13% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.