2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in South Carolina

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 South Carolina, there were 589 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,350 and $22,875 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 487 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in mechanical engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent mechanical engineering programs, but they also cost less that 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. 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 a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in South Carolina

#1

Citadel Military College of South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

#3 in overall quality

$7,296 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Citadel Military College of South Carolina. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Charleston, South Carolina, this small public school handed out 73 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s ME students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at The Citadel, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Carolina” ranking. It costs about $7,296 for south carolina bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Citadel Military College of South Carolina.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at The Citadel

#2

Clemson University

Clemson, South Carolina

#1 in overall quality

$13,698 Average Net Price

$67,212 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Clemson University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k list. Clemson is located in Clemson, South Carolina and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 228 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

Clemson not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Carolina” list. It costs about $13,698 for south carolina bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Clemson University.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University

#3

University of South Carolina - Columbia

Columbia, South Carolina

#2 in overall quality

$12,426 Average Net Price

$64,629 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of South Carolina - Columbia. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k list. UofSC is located in Columbia, South Carolina and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 186 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

UofSC also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Carolina” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $12,426 for south carolina bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of South Carolina - Columbia.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 90%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of South Carolina - Columbia Mechanical Engineering Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s 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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