2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in South Carolina (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 South Carolina For Those Getting Aid” 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 South Carolina, there were 589 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,350 and $22,875 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 487 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in mechanical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mechanical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the mechanical engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in South Carolina (With Aid)

#1

Citadel Military College of South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

#3 in overall quality

$18,548 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Citadel Military College of South Carolina. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid. Citadel Military College of South Carolina is a small public school situated in Charleston, South Carolina. It awarded 73 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our south carolina bachelor’s degree me students with aid list, The Citadel has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Carolina” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Citadel Military College of South Carolina is $18,548 for south carolina bachelor’s degree me students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Citadel Military College of South Carolina

#2

Clemson University

Clemson, South Carolina

#1 in overall quality

$20,008 Average Net Price

$67,212 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Clemson University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid. Clemson is located in Clemson, South Carolina and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 228 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Clemson, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Carolina” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Clemson is $20,008 for south carolina bachelor’s degree me students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 3.1% 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 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Clemson

#3

University of South Carolina - Columbia

Columbia, South Carolina

#2 in overall quality

$20,509 Average Net Price

$64,629 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of South Carolina - Columbia. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid. This large school is located in Columbia, South Carolina, and it awarded 186 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

UofSC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in South Carolina” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UofSC is $20,509 for south carolina bachelor’s degree me students with aid.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at University of South Carolina - Columbia

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in the Southeast Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (With Aid)

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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