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2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia

7 Ranked Colleges
885 Degrees Awarded
$21,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor's in Virginia

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” 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 Virginia, there were 966 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $60,133 and $23,771 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 885 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in mechanical engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent mechanical engineering programs, but they also cost less that 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. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The me 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 ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia”.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to 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 ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia

The colleges and universities below are the best for virginia bachelor’s degree me students.

Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in Virginia

#1

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Virginia Tech. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia list. Virginia Tech is a large public school situated in Blacksburg, Virginia. It awarded 407 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Virginia Tech, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Tech is $21,198 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree ME students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.6%, which is much lower than the national 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 Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech

#2

University of Virginia - Main Campus

Charlottesville, Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Virginia - Main Campus. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia. University of Virginia - Main Campus is a large school located in Charlottesville, Virginia that handed out 94 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia bachelor’s degree me students list, University of Virginia has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Virginia - Main Campus is $20,397 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree ME students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 1.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full University of Virginia - Main Campus Mechanical Engineering Report

#3

George Mason University

Fairfax, Virginia
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, George Mason University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Fairfax, Virginia, this large public school awarded 76 degrees to qualified bachelors’s ME students in 2019-2020.

GMU also took the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend George Mason University is $21,048 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree ME students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at George Mason University

#4

Old Dominion University

Norfolk, Virginia

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Old Dominion University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia. Old Dominion is located in Norfolk, Virginia and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 145 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

Old Dominion also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for Old Dominion is $16,493 for virginia bachelor’s degree me students.

Full Old Dominion University Mechanical Engineering Report

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia that were part of this year’s ranking, Virginia Commonwealth University landed the #5 spot on the list. Virginia Commonwealth University is a large school located in Richmond, Virginia that handed out 104 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our virginia bachelor’s degree me students list, VCU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Virginia Commonwealth University is $22,021 for Virginia Bachelor’s Degree ME students.

The low student loan default rate of 4.5% 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%.

Full Virginia Commonwealth University Mechanical Engineering Report

#6

Virginia Military Institute

Lexington, Virginia

Virginia Military Institute did quite well in the 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia ranking, coming in at #6. Lexington, Virginia is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s ME degrees to 23 students in 2019-2020.

VMI also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $17,804 for virginia bachelor’s degree me students per year to attend VMI.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Military Institute

#7

Liberty University

Lynchburg, Virginia
#7 in overall quality

Liberty University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Virginia ranking. Lynchburg, Virginia is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s ME degrees to 36 students in 2019-2020.

Liberty University also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Virginia” list, coming in at #7. The yearly cost to attend Liberty University is $28,903 for virginia bachelor’s degree me students.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Liberty University

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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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