2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in North Carolina

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 for a Bachelor’s in North Carolina” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 North Carolina, there were 639 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $59,600 and $21,586 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 261 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,192 and $24,368 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in North Carolina” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in general engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent general engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank General Engineering Schools

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 North Carolina” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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 North Carolina

The colleges and universities below are the best for north carolina bachelor’s degree engineering students.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in North Carolina

#1

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, North Carolina

#1 in overall quality

$16,458 Average Net Price

$61,888 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend North Carolina State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in North Carolina. North Carolina State University is a public institution located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The school has a large population, and it awarded 49 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

NC State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina” list. It costs about $16,458 for North Carolina Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students per year to attend NC State.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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%.

Full NC State General Engineering Report

#2

East Carolina University

Greenville, North Carolina

#2 in overall quality

$15,844 Average Net Price

$61,609 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, East Carolina University landed the #2 spot on the list. East Carolina University is a large school located in Greenville, North Carolina that handed out 134 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

ECU also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend East Carolina University is $15,844 for north carolina bachelor’s degree engineering students.

Full East Carolina University General Engineering Report

#3

University of North Carolina at Asheville

Asheville, North Carolina

#3 in overall quality

$12,061 Average Net Price

$61,888 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of North Carolina at Asheville. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in North Carolina list. Asheville, North Carolina is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 38 students in 2019-2020.

UNCA also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $12,061 for north carolina bachelor’s degree engineering students per year to attend University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Read full report on General Engineering at UNCA

#4

Western Carolina University

Cullowhee, North Carolina

#4 in overall quality

$13,722 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Carolina University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in North Carolina list. Western Carolina University is a public institution located in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 34 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our north carolina bachelor’s degree engineering students list, WCU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina” ranking. The yearly cost to attend WCU is $13,722 for north carolina bachelor’s degree engineering students.

Full Western Carolina University General Engineering Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering

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.

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