2026 Best Value Marine Engineering Schools in Maine
[Marine Engineering](/majors/engineering/marine-engineering/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The best values balance affordable tuition against strong post-graduation earnings.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools to find the best return on investment for marine engineering students.
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2026 Best Value Marine Engineering Schools in Maine
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in marine engineering, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value Marine Engineering Schools
Maine Maritime Academy tops our 2026 list of the best value marine engineering schools in Maine. Located in the rural area of Castine, Maine Maritime Academy is a small public university. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $15,158, compared with $31,102 for out-of-state students. Students borrow a median of $27,000 to complete the marine engineering program here. Early-career marine engineering graduates make about $108,130. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. Maine Maritime Academy admits about 54% of applicants.
Students looking for strong value in marine engineering will find it at The Landing School, which ranked #2. Located in the rural area of Arundel, The Landing School is a small private not-for-profit university. Students from in state pay about $29,037 in tuition and fees. Median earnings reach $65,849 ten years out.
Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 2 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
