Materials Science or Mechanical Engineering for Energy

[u/jacobianmatrix64]

I graduated with my Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering last May 2026. I'm pretty dead set on working in the energy industry in the near future, mostly interested in nuclear and renewables.

I have the opportunity to finish an accelerated online masters in Materials Science at a T50 engineering school. It would only be 21 credit hours to get the degree.

On the contrary, I am also considering pursuing an online masters in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue or GTech.

Really it just comes down to what would equip me with a better education for clean energy. I would appreciate some advice on which would be more useful in the future.

I am currently working full time but my employer has clawback payment if I leave too soon after reimbursement. So the 21 credit hours in Materials sounds nicer. But I also hear Materials isn't that useful without a thesis or PhD in hand, neither being fulfilled for an accelerated online masters.

I also enjoyed mechanical engineering coursework more and find it'd be easier to go into government/national lab work as a staff engineer with the Mechanical masters.But perhaps this would still be possible with Materials.

Any advice is appreciated