2023 Best Value Colleges for Architectural Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in the Great Lakes Region

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 1,012 people earned their degree in architectural engineering, making the major the 239th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, architectural engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $65,501 and had an average of $25,395 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 107 architectural engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,727 and $26,440 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in architectural engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent architectural engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the architectural 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 Architectural Engineering Schools

The architectural engineering 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 Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region architectural engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Architectural Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in the Great Lakes Region

1

Milwaukee School of Engineering
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

#1 in overall quality

$19,868 Average Net Price

$63,379 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Milwaukee School of Engineering landed the #1 spot on the list. Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s architectural engineering degrees to 40 students in 2020-2021.

MSOE also made our “Best Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $19,868 for great lakes region architectural engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend MSOE.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Architectural Engineering at Milwaukee School of Engineering

2

Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$21,101 Average Net Price

$68,021 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k list. This medium-sized school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 28 ’s architectural engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

Illinois Tech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois Tech is $21,101 for great lakes region architectural engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech

3

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus
Cincinnati, Ohio

#3 in overall quality

$15,966 Average Net Price

$49,016 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Cincinnati - Main Campus. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $30-$48k list. Located in Cincinnati, Ohio, this large public school handed out 29 degrees to qualified ’s architectural engineering students in 2020-2021.

UC also made our “Best Architectural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for University of Cincinnati - Main Campus is $15,966 for Great Lakes Region Architectural Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.7% 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 Architectural Engineering at UC

• Best Value Colleges for Architectural Engineering (Income $30-$48k)

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.