2022 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Middle Atlantic Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value ME Schools for an Associate in the Middle Atlantic Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

Mechanical Engineering is the 20th most popular major in the country with 47,598 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, mechanical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $64,495 and had an average of $23,104 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Middle Atlantic region, there were 6,804 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,734 and $24,178 respectively. At the associate degree level specifically, there were 55 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,733 and $16,201 respectively.

This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mechanical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the mechanical engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

The me school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value ME Schools for an Associate in the Middle Atlantic Region For Those Making $0-$30k”.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value ME Schools for an Associate in the Middle Atlantic Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for middle atlantic region associate degree me students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 1 Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Middle Atlantic Region

#1

Saint Francis University

Loretto, Pennsylvania

#1 in overall quality

$21,504 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Francis University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for an Associate in the Middle Atlantic Region For Those Making $0-$30k list. Saint Francis University is located in Loretto, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 associates’s ME degrees to qualified students.

Saint Francis also took the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Associate Degree Schools in the Middle Atlantic Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Saint Francis University is $21,504 for Middle Atlantic Region Associate Degree ME 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 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Saint Francis University

• Best Value Associate Degree Colleges for Mechanical 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 Michel Villeneuve.

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