2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in South Dakota

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 $48-$75k” ranking looked at 2 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.

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

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 South Dakota For Those Making $48-$75k”.

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. 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 for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $48-$75k

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

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in South Dakota

#1

South Dakota State University

Brookings, South Dakota

#1 in overall quality

$19,326 Average Net Price

$62,598 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Dakota State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $48-$75k list. South Dakota State is located in Brookings, South Dakota and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 94 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

South Dakota State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” list. It costs about $19,326 for south dakota bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend South Dakota State.

The low student loan default rate of 3.8% 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 South Dakota State

#2

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Rapid City, South Dakota

#2 in overall quality

$20,299 Average Net Price

$63,170 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Dakota For Those Making $48-$75k list. Rapid City, South Dakota is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s ME degrees to 99 students in 2019-2020.

SD Mines also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Dakota” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for South Dakota School of Mines and Technology is $20,299 for south dakota bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

• 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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