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

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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 Dakota, there were 205 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $63,150 and $27,000 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 193 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 South Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in mechanical engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great mechanical engineering programs and 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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 a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in South Dakota

#1

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota

#1 in overall quality

$15,285 Average Net Price

$62,598 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend South Dakota State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k. This fairly large school is located in Brookings, South Dakota, and it awarded 94 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our south dakota bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k list, South Dakota State has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. It costs about $15,285 for South Dakota Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend South Dakota State.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at South Dakota State University

#2

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Rapid City, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$15,464 Average Net Price

$63,170 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology landed the #2 spot on the list. SD Mines is a public institution located in Rapid City, South Dakota. The school has a small population, and it awarded 99 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SD Mines also took the #2 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” ranking. It costs about $15,464 for south dakota bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at SD Mines

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