2023 Best Value Colleges for General Engineering in Pennsylvania (With Aid)
8
Ranked Colleges
493
Degrees Awarded
$28,600
Avg Net Price*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.
In 2020-2021, 11,796 people earned their degree in general engineering, making the major the 79th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,873 and had an average of $20,557 in loans still to pay off.
Across Pennsylvania, there were 493 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $58,911 and $24,603 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in general engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general engineering programs and 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 general engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
One Size Does Not Fit All
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. 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 Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for General Engineering in Pennsylvania (With Aid)
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Swarthmore College. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid. Swarthmore College is located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 23 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania engineering students with aid list, Swarthmore has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Swarthmore is $20,813 for pennsylvania engineering students with aid.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.7% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on General Engineering at Swarthmore
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Carnegie Mellon University landed the #2 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 35 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Carnegie Mellon not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Carnegie Mellon is $36,775 for pennsylvania engineering students with aid.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.7% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on General Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Geneva College. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid. This small school is located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 50 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Geneva also took the #5 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $19,179 for Pennsylvania Engineering students with aid per year to attend Geneva College.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.8% 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 General Engineering at Geneva College
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Lafayette College landed the #4 spot on the list. Lafayette College is located in Easton, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 19 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
Lafayette also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #4. It costs about $32,926 for pennsylvania engineering students with aid per year to attend Lafayette.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.3% 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 General Engineering at Lafayette College
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Temple University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this large public school handed out 8 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Temple, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Temple University is $23,888 for Pennsylvania Engineering students with aid.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about General Engineering at Temple University
Villanova University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid list. Villanova is a private not-for-profit institution located in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 18 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Villanova did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $43,577 for Pennsylvania Engineering students with aid per year to attend Villanova.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on General Engineering at Villanova
Messiah University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid list. Messiah is a small school located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania that handed out 55 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Messiah also took the #7 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Messiah University is $26,864 for pennsylvania engineering students with aid.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Engineering at Messiah University
Elizabethtown College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania For Those Getting Aid list. Elizabethtown College is a small school located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania that handed out 38 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Etown did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Elizabethtown College is $25,069 for Pennsylvania Engineering students with aid.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on General Engineering at Elizabethtown College
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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
- *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 Rémi Kaupp.
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