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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

6 Ranked Colleges
2,178 Degrees Awarded
$17,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Engineering is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 6th of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 200,458 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2017-2018, engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $64,888 and had an average of $23,564 in loans still to pay off.

Across Iowa, there were 2,696 engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,852 and $23,960 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 2,178 engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,922 and $25,876 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 6 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great 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 engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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 Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Iowa

#1 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Iowa State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Ames, Iowa is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 1,571 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our iowa bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k list, Iowa State has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. It costs about $10,054 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Iowa State University.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 89%. The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%.

Full Iowa State Engineering Report

#2

University of Iowa

Iowa City, Iowa
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Iowa landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Iowa City, Iowa, and it awarded 494 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Iowa, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa is $12,975 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. 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%.

Full Iowa Engineering Report

#3

Loras College

Dubuque, Iowa
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loras College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k list. Dubuque, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 10 students in 2019-2020.

Loras also took the #2 spot in our “Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Loras is $16,154 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.2% 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 Engineering at Loras College

#4

Wartburg College

Waverly, Iowa
#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Wartburg College. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Waverly, Iowa is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Wartburg, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Wartburg is $16,334 for iowa bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Engineering at Wartburg College

#5

Dordt University

Sioux Center, Iowa
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Dordt University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k. Dordt is located in Sioux Center, Iowa and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 25 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

Dordt also made our “Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #5. It costs about $24,967 for iowa bachelor’s degree engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Dordt University.

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 Engineering at Dordt University

#6

Saint Ambrose University

Davenport, Iowa
#4 in overall quality

Saint Ambrose University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Iowa For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. This small school is located in Davenport, Iowa, and it awarded 49 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

St. Ambrose University also made our “Best Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Iowa” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $23,977 for Iowa Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend St. Ambrose University.

Read more about Engineering at Saint Ambrose University

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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.

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