2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in Kentucky

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Mechanical Engineering is the 20th most popular major in the country with 47,598 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, mechanical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $64,495 and had an average of $23,104 in loans still to pay off.

Across Kentucky, there were 423 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,375 and $23,481 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 351 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $35,401 and $24,684 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mechanical 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 mechanical engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in Kentucky

#1

University of Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

#1 in overall quality

$12,872 Average Net Price

$64,387 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Kentucky. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k. University of Kentucky is a large school located in Lexington, Kentucky that handed out 173 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

UK also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for UK is $12,872 for kentucky bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $30-$48k.

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

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at UK

#2

University of Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

#2 in overall quality

$14,341 Average Net Price

$65,956 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Louisville. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k list. University of Louisville is a large public school situated in Louisville, Kentucky. It awarded 128 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UofL, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Louisville is $14,341 for Kentucky Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $30-$48k.

Full UofL Mechanical Engineering Report

#3

Western Kentucky University

Bowling Green, Kentucky

#3 in overall quality

$14,790 Average Net Price

$65,441 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Kentucky University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Kentucky For Those Making $30-$48k. This fairly large school is located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and it awarded 50 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our kentucky bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $30-$48k list, WKU has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Kentucky” ranking. The yearly cost to attend WKU is $14,790 for Kentucky Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $30-$48k.

Full Western Kentucky University Mechanical Engineering Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical 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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Michel Villeneuve.

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