2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering (Income $75-$110k) in the Plains States Region

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Materials Engineering is the 150th most popular major in the country with 3,485 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, materials engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $63,129 and had an average of $23,918 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Plains States region, there were 154 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,767 and $25,422 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 123 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $39,786 and $25,576 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in materials engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality materials engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the materials engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Materials Engineering Schools

The materials engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k”.

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 Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering (Income $75-$110k) in the Plains States Region

#1

Iowa State University

Ames, Iowa

#1 in overall quality

$17,228 Average Net Price

$67,101 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Iowa State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. Iowa State University is a large school located in Ames, Iowa that handed out 55 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Iowa State also made our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for Iowa State is $17,228 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $75-$110k.

With a freshman retention rate of 89%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 3.3% 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%.

Full Iowa State Materials Engineering Report

#2

Winona State University

Winona, Minnesota

#3 in overall quality

$18,682 Average Net Price

$66,401 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Winona State University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k list. Winona State is a medium-sized school located in Winona, Minnesota that handed out 18 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Winona State also took the #3 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Winona State is $18,682 for plains states region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $75-$110k.

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%.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at Winona State

#3

University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Minneapolis, Minnesota

#2 in overall quality

$19,942 Average Net Price

$61,218 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in the Plains States Region For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities landed the #3 spot on the list. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities is a large public school situated in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It awarded 50 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our plains states region bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $75-$110k list, UMN Twin Cities has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in the Plains States Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UMN Twin Cities is $19,942 for Plains States Region Bachelor’s Degree Materials Engineering students whose families make $75-$110k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Materials Engineering at University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering (Income $75-$110k)

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 Panoramedia.

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