2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina
8
Ranked Colleges
5,153
Degrees Awarded
$15,800
Avg Net Price*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Engineering Schools in North Carolina” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.
In 2020-2021, 198,468 engineering students received their degree, making the major the 7th most popular in the country. In 2019-2020, engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,653 and had an average of $23,855 in loans still to pay off.
Across North Carolina, there were 5,153 engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $66,976 and $23,674 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality engineering programs that also have a lower cost than 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.
More Ways to Rank Engineering Schools
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 “Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list to help you make the college 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Engineering in North Carolina
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend North Carolina State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina. NC State is a public institution located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The school has a large population, and it awarded 2,631 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
NC State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. The yearly cost to attend North Carolina State University is $16,411 for north carolina engineering students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, 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 94%.
Read more about Engineering at NC State
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, this large public school awarded 94 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
UNC Chapel Hill not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. It costs about $12,469 for north carolina engineering students per year to attend UNC Chapel Hill.
With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.4% 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 Engineering at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, Wake Technical Community College landed the #3 spot on the list. Wake Technical Community College is a public institution located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The school has a large population, and it awarded 133 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Wake Technical Community College not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. It costs about $6,767 for north carolina engineering students per year to attend Wake Technical Community College.
Read full report on Engineering at Wake Technical Community College
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, North Carolina A & T State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Greensboro, North Carolina, this fairly large public school handed out 365 degrees to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
NC A&T not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. The estimated yearly cost for NC A&T is $10,563 for north carolina engineering students.
Full NC A&T Engineering Report
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, University of North Carolina at Charlotte landed the #5 spot on the list. Charlotte, North Carolina is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 662 students in 2020-2021.
UNC Charlotte not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of North Carolina at Charlotte is $17,634 for north carolina engineering students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on Engineering at UNC Charlotte
East Carolina University did quite well in the 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina ranking, coming in at #6. ECU is a large public school situated in Greenville, North Carolina. It awarded 120 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
ECU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. It costs about $16,550 for north carolina engineering students per year to attend ECU.
Read more about Engineering at ECU
Western Carolina University landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina ranking. WCU is a fairly large public school situated in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It awarded 61 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
WCU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. The yearly cost to attend WCU is $13,924 for North Carolina Engineering students.
Full WCU Engineering Report
Duke University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in North Carolina ranking. Duke University is located in Durham, North Carolina and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 689 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
Duke not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Engineering Schools in North Carolina” list. The estimated yearly cost for Duke is $32,459 for north carolina engineering students.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.3% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Full Duke University Engineering Report
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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
- *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