2022 Best Value Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Maryland

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 Maryland, there were 756 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $69,700 and $20,917 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value ME Schools in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer 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.

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

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value ME Schools in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value ME Schools in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Maryland

#1

Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, Maryland

#1 in overall quality

$3,526 Average Net Price

$66,904 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Johns Hopkins University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k list. Johns Hopkins University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Baltimore, Maryland. It awarded 158 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Johns Hopkins, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Maryland” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Johns Hopkins University is $3,526 for maryland me students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins

#2

University of Maryland - College Park

College Park, Maryland

#2 in overall quality

$8,054 Average Net Price

$48,842 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value ME Schools in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Maryland - College Park landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Maryland - College Park is a large school located in College Park, Maryland that handed out 382 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

UMCP not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Maryland” list. It costs about $8,054 for Maryland ME students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Maryland - College Park.

With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at UMCP

#3

University of Maryland - Baltimore County

Baltimore, Maryland

#3 in overall quality

$10,820 Average Net Price

$46,475 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Maryland - Baltimore County. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value ME Schools in Maryland For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Maryland - Baltimore County is a public institution located in Baltimore, Maryland. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 142 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UMBC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Maryland” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Maryland - Baltimore County is $10,820 for Maryland ME students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.3% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full UMBC Mechanical Engineering Report

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