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2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k

7 Ranked Colleges
219 Degrees Awarded
$8,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor's For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 689 people earned their degree in materials sciences, making the major the 258th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, materials sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $60,225 and had an average of $23,698 in loans still to pay off.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 219 materials sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 7 colleges that offered a degree in materials sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality materials sciences programs that also have a lower cost than 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 materials sciences program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Materials Sciences 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 Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. 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 Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Sciences (Income $0-$30k)

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s materials science degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern also made our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $1,866 for Bachelor’s Degree Materials Science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Northwestern.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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 more about Materials Sciences at Northwestern University

#3 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia University in the City of New York. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in New York, New York, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 5 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s materials science students in 2019-2020.

Columbia not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The yearly cost to attend Columbia University in the City of New York is $8,916 for bachelor’s degree materials science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Columbia Materials Sciences Report

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of California - Berkeley. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k. Berkeley, California is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s materials science degrees to 36 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UC Berkeley, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UC Berkeley is $8,392 for bachelor’s degree materials science students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Materials Sciences at UC Berkeley

#4

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Los Angeles landed the #4 spot on the list. University of California - Los Angeles is a large public school situated in Los Angeles, California. It awarded 19 bachelors’s materials science degrees in 2019-2020.

UCLA also made our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #5. The yearly cost to attend UCLA is $8,553 for bachelor’s degree materials science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of California - Los Angeles Materials Sciences Report

#5

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Carnegie Mellon University landed the #5 spot on the list. Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit institution located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 34 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Carnegie Mellon also made our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $12,542 for bachelor’s degree materials science students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Carnegie Mellon University.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low student loan default rate of 0.6% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Carnegie Mellon University Materials Sciences Report

#6

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

University of Arizona came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. University of Arizona is a large public school situated in Tucson, Arizona. It awarded 17 bachelors’s materials science degrees in 2019-2020.

University of Arizona did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Arizona is $10,562 for bachelor’s degree materials science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Read more about Materials Sciences at University of Arizona

University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s For Those Making $0-$30k list. UW - Eau Claire is a fairly large public school situated in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It awarded 5 bachelors’s materials science degrees in 2019-2020.

UW - Eau Claire did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The estimated yearly cost for UW - Eau Claire is $11,528 for Bachelor’s Degree Materials Science students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Materials Sciences at University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire

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 Per Henning.

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