by our College Data Analytics Team
[Engineering Science](/majors/engineering/engineering-science/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. The best values balance affordable tuition against strong post-graduation earnings.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 6 schools to find the best return on investment for engineering science students.
What’s on this page:
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the engineering science degrees they offer, see the list below.
Leading the list is Houston Community College, our #1 best value for engineering science in Texas. Houston Community College is a very large public school located in the city of Houston. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $2,040, with out-of-state students paying around $5,460. Typical student debt for engineering science graduates is $17,814. Early-career engineering science graduates make about $61,518. That is a strong return on a $17,814 median debt.
The strong cost-to-outcome balance at Trinity University earned it the #2 place for engineering science. Set in the city of San Antonio, Trinity University is a mid-sized private not-for-profit institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $53,676. Typical student debt for engineering science graduates is $21,249. Early-career engineering science graduates make about $74,063. That is a strong return on a $21,249 median debt. Trinity University admits about 26% of applicants.
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 6 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 2 ranked schools only.
More about our data sources and methodologies.