2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia
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 ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
In 2019-2020, 47,598 people earned their degree in mechanical engineering, making the major the 20th most popular in the United States. 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 Virginia, there were 966 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,133 and $23,771 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 885 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the mechanical engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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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 a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k”.
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Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k.
Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Virginia
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Tech. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Blacksburg, Virginia, and it awarded 407 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.
Virginia Tech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for Virginia Tech is $11,138 for virginia bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The low student loan default rate of 1.6% 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%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Virginia - Main Campus is a public institution located in Charlottesville, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 94 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
University of Virginia not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Virginia - Main Campus is $8,882 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k.
The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Read more about Mechanical Engineering at University of Virginia - Main Campus
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend George Mason University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. GMU is a public institution located in Fairfax, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 76 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
GMU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $16,204 for virginia bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend GMU.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.
Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at George Mason University
Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Old Dominion University landed the #4 spot on the list. Norfolk, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s ME degrees to 145 students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our virginia bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k list, Old Dominion has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Old Dominion University is $12,017 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k.
Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Old Dominion University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Military Institute. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k list. Virginia Military Institute is located in Lexington, Virginia and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 23 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.
VMI also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Military Institute is $8,789 for virginia bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k.
The low student loan default rate of 1.7% 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%.
Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Virginia Commonwealth University is a large public school situated in Richmond, Virginia. It awarded 104 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.
VCU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $16,768 for virginia bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend VCU.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Virginia Commonwealth University Mechanical Engineering Report
Liberty University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #7. Liberty University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Lynchburg, Virginia. The school has a large population, and it awarded 36 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Liberty University also took the #7 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. It costs about $27,896 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Liberty University.
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in North Carolina
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Kentucky
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Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Arkansas
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- Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k)
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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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