2026 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in Kentucky
[Materials Engineering](/majors/engineering/materials-engineering/) is a field worth comparing on the balance of cost and outcomes. 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 materials engineering students.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in Kentucky
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in materials engineering, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value Materials Engineering Schools
University Of Kentucky earned the #1 spot for value among materials engineering schools in Kentucky. University Of Kentucky is a very large public school located in the city of Lexington. Students from in state pay about $13,502 in tuition and fees, with out-of-state students paying around $34,140. Students borrow a median of $24,094 to complete the materials engineering program here. Soon after graduation, materials engineering degree recipients from University Of Kentucky generally make around $49,568. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. The acceptance rate is 93%.
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.
