2023 Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Rocky Mountains Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Petroleum Engineering for a Bachelor’s” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 1,256 people earned their degree in petroleum engineering, making the major the 223rd most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, petroleum engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $83,917 and had an average of $25,780 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Rocky Mountains region, there were 164 petroleum engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $88,574 and $27,110 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 125 petroleum engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,089 and $26,296 respectively.

For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Petroleum Engineering for a Bachelor’s” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in petroleum engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great petroleum engineering programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the petroleum engineering program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 “Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Petroleum Engineering for a Bachelor’s” list to help you make the college 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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Petroleum Engineering for a Bachelor’s

The colleges and universities below are the best for rocky mountains region bachelor’s degree vets studying petroleum engineering.

Top 3 Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans in the Rocky Mountains Region

1

Colorado School of Mines
Golden, Colorado

234 GI Bill® Students**

#1 in overall quality

$12,456 Average GI Bill® Award

Out of the 3 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Petroleum Engineering for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado School of Mines landed the #1 spot on the list. Mines is located in Golden, Colorado and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 64 bachelors’s petroleum engineering degrees to qualified students.

Mines also took the #1 spot in our “Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking.Among the 6,744 students enrolled at Mines, 234 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 145 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $12,456. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Mines does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

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2

University of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming

473 GI Bill® Students**

#3 in overall quality

YES Student Veterans Organization

Out of the 3 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Petroleum Engineering for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Wyoming landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Laramie, Wyoming, this fairly large public school awarded 30 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s petroleum engineering students in 2020-2021.

UW also took the #3 spot in our “Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking.Of the 11,829 students enrolled at UW, 473 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 255 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $3,738. On top of their other funding sources, 13 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. UW offers credit for military training for eligible students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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%.

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3

Montana Technological University
Butte, Montana

117 GI Bill® Students**

#2 in overall quality

$4,336 Average GI Bill® Award

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Montana Technological University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in the Rocky Mountains Region for Petroleum Engineering for a Bachelor’s list. Butte, Montana is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s petroleum engineering degrees to 31 students in 2020-2021.

Montana Tech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” list.Among the 1,650 students enrolled at Montana Tech, 117 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 60 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $4,336. In addition to receiving other benefits, 11 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

Full Montana Technological University Veteran Student Life Report

• Best Petroleum Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Veterans

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).
• Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• 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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
• 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.