2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k
8
Ranked Colleges
493
Degrees Awarded
$16,000
Avg Net Price*
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
General Engineering is the 79th most popular major in the country with 11,796 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,873 and had an average of $20,557 in loans still to pay off.
Across Pennsylvania, there were 493 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $58,911 and $24,603 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 8 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique 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.
Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k
The colleges and universities below are the best for pennsylvania engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Pennsylvania
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Carnegie Mellon University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k list. Carnegie Mellon University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 35 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Carnegie Mellon did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $16,456 for pennsylvania engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Carnegie Mellon University.
With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 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 0.7% 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%.
Full Carnegie Mellon General Engineering Report
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Swarthmore College landed the #2 spot on the list. Swarthmore College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. It awarded 23 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Swarthmore also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Swarthmore is $4,594 for pennsylvania engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Engineering at Swarthmore College
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lafayette College. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k list. Lafayette is a small school located in Easton, Pennsylvania that handed out 19 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Lafayette not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $11,728 for Pennsylvania Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Lafayette College.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Read full report on General Engineering at Lafayette College
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Villanova University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k list. This fairly large school is located in Villanova, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 18 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Villanova also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $24,907 for pennsylvania engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Villanova University.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about General Engineering at Villanova
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Geneva College. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k. Geneva is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. It awarded 50 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Geneva also took the #5 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $15,582 for Pennsylvania Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Geneva College.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.8% 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 about General Engineering at Geneva College
Temple University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #6. This large school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 8 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Temple also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend Temple is $18,173 for Pennsylvania Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Engineering at Temple
Elizabethtown College landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Etown is a private not-for-profit institution located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The school has a small population, and it awarded 38 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Etown, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $18,069 for pennsylvania engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Elizabethtown College.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Engineering at Elizabethtown College
Messiah University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Messiah University is located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 55 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
Messiah did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Messiah University is $18,751 for Pennsylvania Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Engineering at Messiah
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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
- *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.
