2023 Best Value Colleges for Structural Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region

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 Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Structural Engineering is the 673rd most popular major in the country with 332 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 15 structural engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in structural engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent structural engineering programs, but they also cost less that 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 structural engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k” 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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region structural engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Structural Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in the Great Lakes Region

1

Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan

#2 in overall quality

$20,840 Average Net Price

$43,765 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Michigan University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. Located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, this fairly large public school awarded 5 degrees to qualified ’s structural engineering students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at WMU, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Western Michigan University is $20,840 for Great Lakes Region Structural Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

Full WMU Structural Engineering Report

2

Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$22,339 Average Net Price

$68,021 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois Institute of Technology. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s structural engineering degrees to 8 students in 2020-2021.

Illinois Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Structural Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend Illinois Institute of Technology is $22,339 for great lakes region structural engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Structural Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

• Best Value Colleges for Structural Engineering (Income $48-$75k)

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 Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.