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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania

10 Ranked Colleges
257 Degrees Awarded
$27,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor's in Pennsylvania

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 11,925 people earned their degree in general engineering, making the major the 78th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $66,152 and had an average of $20,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across Pennsylvania, there were 476 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $49,211 and $25,494 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 257 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” ranking looked at 10 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in general engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent general 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 general engineering program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania” list to help you make the college decision.

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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania

The colleges and universities below are the best for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree engineering students.

Top 10 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in Pennsylvania

#1

Temple University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#10 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Temple University landed the #1 spot on the list. Temple University is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

Temple not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #10 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Temple University is $23,521 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read full report on General Engineering at Temple University

#2

Geneva College

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Geneva College. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. Geneva is located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 72 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

Geneva also took the #9 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Geneva College is $19,778 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.

Read full report on General Engineering at Geneva

#3

Elizabethtown College

Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Elizabethtown College. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania. Located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 24 degrees to qualified bachelors’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

Etown also took the #4 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Elizabethtown College is $26,937 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on General Engineering at Etown

#4

Messiah University

Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Messiah University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. This small school is located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 61 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Messiah also took the #5 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Messiah is $28,141 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree engineering students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on General Engineering at Messiah

#5

Saint Francis University

Loretto, Pennsylvania
#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Francis University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Saint Francis is located in Loretto, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Saint Francis, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Saint Francis University is $28,643 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.

With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.3% 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 Saint Francis University

#6

Thomas Jefferson University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#8 in overall quality

Thomas Jefferson University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree engineering students list, Thomas Jefferson University has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Thomas Jefferson University is $25,162 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.7% 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%.

Full Thomas Jefferson University General Engineering Report

#7

Swarthmore College

Swarthmore, Pennsylvania

Swarthmore College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking. Swarthmore is located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 24 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Swarthmore, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Swarthmore College is $19,184 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree engineering students.

The low 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 student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about General Engineering at Swarthmore

#8

Lafayette College

Easton, Pennsylvania

With a ranking of #8, Lafayette College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Easton, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 18 students in 2019-2020.

Lafayette also made our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $32,551 for Pennsylvania Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students per year to attend Lafayette College.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The 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. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about General Engineering at Lafayette

#9

Drexel University

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
#6 in overall quality

Drexel University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #9. Drexel University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It awarded 8 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Drexel did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The estimated yearly cost for Drexel University is $34,914 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree engineering students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 88%. The low student loan default rate of 2.3% 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 full report on General Engineering at Drexel University

#10

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
#3 in overall quality

With a ranking of #10, Carnegie Mellon University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Pennsylvania list. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s engineering degrees to 26 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our pennsylvania bachelor’s degree engineering students list, Carnegie Mellon has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $34,508 for pennsylvania bachelor’s degree engineering students per year to attend Carnegie Mellon University.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 96%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 0.6% 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 General Engineering at Carnegie Mellon

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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

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 Rémi Kaupp.

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