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

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 in Kentucky 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 Kentucky, there were 423 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,375 and $23,481 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value ME Schools in Kentucky For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mechanical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than 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

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 in Kentucky For Those Making $0-$30k”.

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 in Kentucky For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for kentucky me students whose families make $0-$30k.

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

#1

University of Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

#1 in overall quality

$11,848 Average Net Price

$43,759 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value ME Schools in Kentucky For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Kentucky landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Lexington, Kentucky, and it awarded 196 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our kentucky me students whose families make $0-$30k list, UK has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Kentucky” ranking. It costs about $11,848 for Kentucky ME students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UK.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of Kentucky

#2

University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

#2 in overall quality

$13,058 Average Net Price

$50,317 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Louisville. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools in Kentucky For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Louisville is a large public school situated in Louisville, Kentucky. It awarded 177 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

UofL not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Kentucky” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Louisville is $13,058 for Kentucky ME students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full UofL Mechanical Engineering Report

#3

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, Kentucky

#3 in overall quality

$11,714 Average Net Price

$37,438 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Kentucky University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value ME Schools in Kentucky For Those Making $0-$30k. Western Kentucky University is a fairly large school located in Bowling Green, Kentucky that handed out 50 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

WKU also took the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Kentucky” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for WKU is $11,714 for Kentucky ME students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Western Kentucky University

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