2022 Best Value Engineering Mechanics Schools for a Bachelor’s 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. 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 Engineering Mechanics Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 257 people earned their degree in engineering mechanics, making the major the 298th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, engineering mechanics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $62,400 and had an average of $25,750 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Great Lakes region, there were 82 engineering mechanics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $25,125 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 57 engineering mechanics graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,075 and $25,381 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Mechanics Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in engineering mechanics. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality engineering mechanics 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 engineering mechanics program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Mechanics Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Engineering Mechanics Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best for great lakes region bachelor’s degree engineering mechanics students.

Top 2 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Mechanics in the Great Lakes Region

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$15,880 Average Net Price

$71,486 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Engineering Mechanics Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. UIUC is located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 22 bachelors’s engineering mechanics degrees to qualified students.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Engineering Mechanics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” list. The yearly cost to attend UIUC is $15,880 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Mechanics students.

The low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Engineering Mechanics Report

#2

University of Wisconsin - Madison

Madison, Wisconsin

#2 in overall quality

$17,708 Average Net Price

$58,479 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Wisconsin - Madison. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Engineering Mechanics Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Great Lakes Region. This large school is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and it awarded 35 bachelors’s engineering mechanics degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UW - Madison, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Engineering Mechanics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Wisconsin - Madison is $17,708 for Great Lakes Region Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Mechanics students.

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 loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Engineering Mechanics at University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Engineering Mechanics

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 Siemens Pressebild.

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