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

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking.

General Engineering is the 78th most popular major in the country with 11,925 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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 Virginia, there were 756 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,667 and $15,177 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 124 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia

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

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in Virginia

#1

James Madison University

Harrisonburg, Virginia

#2 in overall quality

$22,169 Average Net Price

$59,011 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, James Madison University landed the #1 spot on the list. James Madison University is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 78 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our virginia bachelor’s degree engineering students list, JMU has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend JMU is $22,169 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 89%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full James Madison University General Engineering Report

#2

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, Virginia

#1 in overall quality

$20,397 Average Net Price

$55,286 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia. University of Virginia - Main Campus is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 10 bachelors’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Virginia, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Virginia - Main Campus is $20,397 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The low student loan default rate of 1.6% 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 more about General Engineering at University of Virginia - Main Campus

#3

Old Dominion University

Norfolk, Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$16,493 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Old Dominion University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia list. Old Dominion is a large school located in Norfolk, Virginia that handed out 10 bachelors’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Old Dominion not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best General Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list. It costs about $16,493 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree Engineering students per year to attend Old Dominion.

Read more about General Engineering at Old Dominion

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering

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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