2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Manufacturing Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in the Southwest Region

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. 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 Manufacturing Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Manufacturing Engineering is the 241st most popular major in the country with 966 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, manufacturing engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $62,383 and had an average of $25,760 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southwest region, there were 124 manufacturing engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $52,700 and $25,325 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 70 manufacturing engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,896 and $23,899 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Manufacturing Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in manufacturing engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality manufacturing engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the manufacturing engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 Manufacturing Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $30-$48k” 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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Manufacturing Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for southwest region bachelor’s degree manufacturing engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Manufacturing Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in the Southwest Region

#1

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Edinburg, Texas

#2 in overall quality

$3,473 Average Net Price

$61,516 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Manufacturing Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $30-$48k. UT Rio Grande Valley is a large school located in Edinburg, Texas that handed out 16 bachelors’s manufacturing engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UT Rio Grande Valley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” list. The yearly cost to attend The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is $3,473 for southwest region bachelor’s degree manufacturing engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.8% 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 UT Rio Grande Valley Manufacturing Engineering Report

#2

Arizona State University - Tempe

Tempe, Arizona

#3 in overall quality

$8,921 Average Net Price

$63,005 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Arizona State University - Tempe. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Manufacturing Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $30-$48k. Arizona State University - Tempe is a large public school situated in Tempe, Arizona. It awarded 17 bachelors’s manufacturing engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at ASU - Tempe, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. It costs about $8,921 for Southwest Region Bachelor’s Degree Manufacturing Engineering students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend ASU - Tempe.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Read more about Manufacturing Engineering at ASU - Tempe

#3

Texas State University

San Marcos, Texas

#1 in overall quality

$12,292 Average Net Price

$58,402 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Texas State University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Manufacturing Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Southwest Region For Those Making $30-$48k list. Texas State is a large school located in San Marcos, Texas that handed out 37 bachelors’s manufacturing engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our southwest region bachelor’s degree manufacturing engineering students whose families make $30-$48k list, Texas State has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Manufacturing Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Southwest Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Texas State University is $12,292 for southwest region bachelor’s degree manufacturing engineering students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on Manufacturing Engineering at Texas State University

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Manufacturing Engineering (Income $30-$48k)

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.

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