2026 Best Value General Materials Engineering Schools in Virginia
[General Materials Engineering](/majors/engineering/materials-engineering/general-materials-engineering/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools to find the best return on investment for general materials engineering students.
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2026 Best Value General Materials Engineering Schools in Virginia
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in general materials engineering, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value General Materials Engineering Schools
Leading the list is University Of Virginia Main Campus, our #1 best value for general materials engineering in Virginia. Set in the suburb of Charlottesville, University Of Virginia Main Campus is a very large public institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $23,118, compared with $61,591 for out-of-state students. General Materials Engineering graduates carry a median of $18,627 in student loans. Early-career general materials engineering graduates make about $69,126. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. Roughly 17% of applicants are accepted.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University came in at #2 on our 2026 list of the best value general materials engineering schools. Set in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University is a very large public institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $15,948, compared with $37,764 for out-of-state students. Students borrow a median of $27,000 to complete the general materials engineering program here. Early-career general materials engineering graduates make about $66,888. Set against $27,000 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff. The acceptance rate is 55%.
Notes and References
This ranking is produced by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 2 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 2 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
