2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Structural Engineering

When it comes to choosing a college, veterans have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Structural Engineering” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Structural Engineering is the 673rd most popular major in the country with 332 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 15 structural engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Structural Engineering” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in structural engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great structural engineering programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the structural engineering program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Structural Engineering Schools

The structural engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Structural Engineering”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Structural Engineering

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region vets studying structural engineering.

Top 2 Best Structural Engineering Colleges for Veterans in the Great Lakes Region

1

Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan

584 GI Bill® Students**

YES Student Veterans Organization

$9,981 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Michigan University. The school came in at #1 for the Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Structural Engineering. This fairly large school is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and it awarded 5 ’s structural engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

WMU also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 584 of the 19,887 students enrolled at WMU were GI Bill® students, of which 327 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $9,981. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. WMU does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

[Read full report on veteran student life at WMU]](/colleges/western-michigan-university/student-life/veterans/)

2

Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, Illinois

83 GI Bill® Students**

$14,905 Average GI Bill® Award

$77,682 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Great Lakes Region for Structural Engineering that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #2 spot on the list. Illinois Institute of Technology is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 8 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

Illinois Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Of the 6,325 students enrolled at Illinois Tech, 83 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 52 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $14,905. During this same period, 14 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read More…

• Best Structural Engineering Colleges for Veterans

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.