2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 11,925 people earned their degree in general engineering, making the major the 78th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $66,152 and had an average of $20,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across Virginia, there were 756 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,667 and $15,177 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 124 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in general engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the general engineering program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia

#1

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$8,882 Average Net Price

$55,286 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Charlottesville, Virginia, and it awarded 10 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

University of Virginia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $8,882 for virginia bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Virginia.

The low student loan default rate of 1.6% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.

Full University of Virginia General Engineering Report

#2

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$14,196 Average Net Price

$59,011 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend James Madison University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and it awarded 78 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

JMU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The yearly cost to attend JMU is $14,196 for virginia bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on General Engineering at James Madison University

#3

Old Dominion University

Norfolk, Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$12,017 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Old Dominion University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k. Norfolk, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 10 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k list, Old Dominion has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Old Dominion University is $12,017 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on General Engineering at Old Dominion

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k)

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).
• 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

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• 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 Rémi Kaupp.

Featured Engineering Schools

Request Info

Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs ... Learn More >