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

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

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 Getting Aid” ranking looked at 4 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.

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. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

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

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

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in Iowa (With Aid)

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$15,496 Average Net Price

$65,814 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. Iowa State University is located in Ames, Iowa and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 429 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

Iowa State also took the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Iowa State is $15,496 for iowa bachelor’s degree me students with aid.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa

#2 in overall quality

$19,145 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 Getting Aid. Located in Iowa City, Iowa, this large public school handed out 120 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s ME students in 2019-2020.

Iowa also took the #2 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Iowa is $19,145 for iowa bachelor’s degree me students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at University of Iowa

#3

Dordt University

Sioux Center, Iowa

#3 in overall quality

$25,102 Average Net Price

$61,020 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Dordt University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Getting Aid list. This small school is located in Sioux Center, Iowa, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Dordt, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $25,102 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree ME students with aid per year to attend Dordt.

The low student loan default rate of 1.8% 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 Dordt

#4

Saint Ambrose University

Davenport, Iowa

#4 in overall quality

$26,204 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 Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Saint Ambrose University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Davenport, Iowa, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 25 degrees to qualified bachelors’s ME students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa bachelor’s degree me students with aid list, St. Ambrose University has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Saint Ambrose University is $26,204 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree ME students with aid.

Full St. Ambrose University Mechanical Engineering Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in the Plains States 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.

Featured Engineering Schools

Request Info

Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs ... Learn More >