2022 Best Value ME Schools in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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 Carolina, there were 589 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,350 and $22,875 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value ME Schools in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great mechanical engineering programs and cost less that 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

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 South Carolina For Those Getting Aid”.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value ME Schools in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid

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

Top 3 Best Value 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

$50,720 Average Early-Career Earnings

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 in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid. The Citadel is located in Charleston, South Carolina and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 76 ’s ME degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at The Citadel, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in South Carolina” ranking. The yearly cost to attend The Citadel is $18,548 for South Carolina ME students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Full Citadel Military College of South Carolina Mechanical Engineering Report

#2

Clemson University

Clemson, South Carolina

#1 in overall quality

$20,008 Average Net Price

$45,078 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 in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid. Clemson is a public institution located in Clemson, South Carolina. The school has a large population, and it awarded 294 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our south carolina me students with aid list, Clemson has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in South Carolina” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Clemson University is $20,008 for south carolina me students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. 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%.

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

$45,200 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 in South Carolina For Those Getting Aid. University of South Carolina - Columbia is located in Columbia, South Carolina and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 219 ’s ME degrees to qualified students.

UofSC also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in South Carolina” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for UofSC is $20,509 for south carolina 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%.

Full University of South Carolina - Columbia Mechanical Engineering Report

• Best Value Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in the Southeast Region (With Aid)
• Best Value 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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