2024 Best Value Colleges for General Engineering in Pennsylvania
8
Ranked Colleges
493
Degrees Awarded
$28,600
Avg Net Price*
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking - to help you make that decision.
General Engineering is the 79th most popular major in the country with 11,796 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. 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” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree 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.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
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 in Pennsylvania” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania
The colleges and universities below are the best for pennsylvania engineering students.
Top 8 Best Value Colleges for General Engineering in Pennsylvania
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Villanova University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania. Villanova University is located in Villanova, Pennsylvania and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 18 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
Villanova not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. It costs about $43,577 for pennsylvania engineering students per year to attend Villanova University.
With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Engineering at Villanova
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Temple University landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this large public school awarded 8 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
Temple not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list. The yearly cost to attend Temple is $23,888 for pennsylvania engineering students.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.5% 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.
Full Temple University General Engineering Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Geneva College. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Geneva College is a small school located in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania that handed out 50 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Geneva also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #5. It costs about $19,179 for Pennsylvania Engineering students 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%.
Full Geneva College General Engineering Report
Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, Elizabethtown College landed the #4 spot on the list. Etown is a small school located in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania that handed out 38 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Etown also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” list, coming in at #8. It costs about $25,069 for Pennsylvania Engineering students per year to attend Elizabethtown College.
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%.
Read more about General Engineering at Elizabethtown College
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Messiah University. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Messiah is a small school located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania that handed out 55 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania engineering students list, Messiah has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $26,864 for pennsylvania engineering students per year to attend Messiah.
The low undergrad 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about General Engineering at Messiah
Carnegie Mellon University landed the #6 spot on the 2024 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 35 degrees to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our pennsylvania engineering students list, Carnegie Mellon has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Carnegie Mellon is $36,775 for pennsylvania engineering students.
With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.
Read more about General Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University
Lafayette College did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking, coming in at #7. Easton, Pennsylvania is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 19 students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Lafayette, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Lafayette is $32,926 for pennsylvania engineering students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 91%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Lafayette College General Engineering Report
Swarthmore College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Swarthmore College is a small school located in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania that handed out 23 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Swarthmore also took the #4 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania” ranking. It costs about $20,813 for Pennsylvania Engineering students per year to attend Swarthmore College.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 95%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Read full report on General Engineering at Swarthmore
Focus on a Specific Degree Level
Switch to a More General Major
Switch to a Similar Major
Switch to a More Focused Major
Switch to a Different Ranking Method
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.
college factual
