2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k” 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 Iowa, there were 607 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,575 and $24,231 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 589 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 4 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.

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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in Iowa

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$14,161 Average Net Price

$65,814 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Iowa State University is a large public school situated in Ames, Iowa. It awarded 429 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also took the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State is $14,161 for iowa bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$18,272 Average Net Price

$64,687 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Iowa. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k. Iowa City, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s ME degrees to 120 students in 2019-2020.

Iowa did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list. The yearly cost to attend Iowa is $18,272 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $48-$75k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Iowa Mechanical Engineering Report

#3

Dordt University

Sioux Center, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$22,821 Average Net Price

$61,020 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Dordt University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k. Located in Sioux Center, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 12 degrees to qualified bachelors’s ME students in 2019-2020.

Dordt also took the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Dordt University is $22,821 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Dordt

#4

Saint Ambrose University

Davenport, Iowa

#4 in overall quality

$27,002 Average Net Price

$60,771 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Ambrose University landed the #4 spot on the list. Saint Ambrose University is located in Davenport, Iowa and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 25 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

St. Ambrose University also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #4. The yearly cost to attend Saint Ambrose University is $27,002 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $48-$75k.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at St. Ambrose University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in the Plains States Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $48-$75k)

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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