New Hampshire
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.
New Hampshire at China’s rate would graduate 2,266 engineers a year. It graduates 663.
New Hampshire produces 663 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 6,825 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 7 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 2,266. Output is growing (+26.3% over three years). Gap Score: 29% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 2,210 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 34% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
New Hampshire is missing 1,603 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 5x the annual output of Dartmouth College.
Where New Hampshire’s engineers are made.
7 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in New Hampshire. The top 7 account for 100% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dartmouth College | 302 | 23.7% |
| 2 | University of New Hampshire-Main Campus | 289 | 11.1% |
| 3 | Keene State College | 21 | 3.2% |
| 4 | University of New Hampshire at Manchester | 17 | 12.3% |
| 5 | Plymouth State University | 12 | 1.8% |
| 6 | New England College | 11 | 4.4% |
| 7 | Saint Anselm College | 10 | 2.2% |
Jobs vs. degrees
New Hampshire'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 | 490 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 190 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 160 |
| Mechanical Engineers | 160 |
| Industrial Engineers | 130 |
| Civil Engineers | 110 |
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: New Hampshire labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Defense and biotech hire here, colleges stay small
New Hampshire has almost no megaproject incentive program, yet three employers that hire many engineers keep expanding there: BAE Systems' electronic warfare and microelectronics campuses, Lonza's Portsmouth biologics complex, and the Navy's dry dock rebuild. The state's own levers are a $7 million R&D credit pool and small training grants, and it killed a data center incentive bill in 2026.
The drain.
New Hampshire imports mid-career adults and exports its own teenagers. The state gains net movers aged 26 to 44 while losing people under 26, and even its flagship keeps only half of a graduating class at work in state.
Sources: NH Fiscal Policy Institute; NHPR; Business NH Magazine
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 New Hampshire.
Scale the BAE boot camp
BAE Systems already runs a Microelectronics Boot Camp with Nashua Community College as part of its CHIPS commitments. Digital ROTC would turn that into service-for-tuition: CCSNH covers the associate degree or certificate, the student commits years of service at a cleared NH employer. Associate programs are only 11% of the state's engineering and CS output, the cheapest place to add seats.
Attach pipeline terms to BFA deals
New Hampshire's main subsidy is roughly $180 million in tax-exempt financing the Business Finance Authority has extended to Lonza. Condition future BFA financing and WorkInvestNH training grants on funded Digital ROTC cohorts, so every job promised comes with a named in-state seat and a service commitment.
Use tuition contracts to keep graduates
With 56% of NH high schoolers leaving for four-year degrees and only half of UNH's class working in state, the state cannot fix retention with tuition alone while ranking last in public higher education funding. A service-for-tuition contract at UNH and Dartmouth Thayer, redeemed at BAE, Lonza or Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, ties the subsidy to a binding service obligation. Note that SNHU, the state's largest enrollment, is excluded from this index as an online institution.
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 New Hampshire, 11% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.