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2021 Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges for Non-Traditional Students

233 Colleges
35,501 Bachelor's Degrees
$35,601 Avg Cost*

Finding the Best Mechanical Engineering Schools for Non-Traditional Students

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges for Non-Traditional StudentsIn <nil>, 35,501 people earned their bachelor's in mechanical engineering, making the major the #17 most popular in the United States.

This year's Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges for Non-Traditional Students ranking looked at 233 colleges that offer a bachelor's in me. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great mechanical engineering programs and a strong support system for non-traditional students.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the mechanical engineering program at the school, affordability, and non-traditional population. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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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 the Best ME Schools for Non-Traditional Students.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

2021 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools for Non-Traditional Students in the United States

The colleges and universities below are the best for non-traditional students studying me.

Top 25 Mechanical Engineering Schools for Non-Traditional Students

1

Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus tops the 2021 list of our schools in the United States that are best for non-traditional mechanical engineering students. Georgia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Atlanta. Georgia Tech also took the #3 spot in our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering rankings.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.4%. 19,058 students at Georgia Tech are exclusively online. There are roughly 21,273 part time students in attendance at Georgia Tech.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology - Main Campus

2
SUNY Maritime College crest
SUNY Maritime College
Throggs Neck, NY

Our rankings recognize SUNY Maritime College as the #2 school in this year's rankings. SUNY Maritime College is a small public school located in the city of Throggs Neck. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, SUNY Maritime College is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. Approximately 479 students take at least one class online at SUNY Maritime College. There are roughly 177 part time students in attendance at SUNY Maritime College.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at SUNY Maritime College

3

Texas A&M University - College Station comes in at #3 in this year's ranking. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the medium-sized city of College Station. Texas A&M College Station excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

About 0.6% of Texas A&M College Station students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 24,343 students take at least one class online at Texas A&M College Station. 9,943 students are part time.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University - College Station Report

4

Michigan Technological University comes in at #4 in this year's ranking. Michigan Tech is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Houghton. Michigan Tech also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 5% of all schools in this category.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.9%. Approximately 522 students take at least one class online at Michigan Tech. 724 of Michigan Tech students are attending part time.

Read More…

5

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor earned the #5 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the city of Ann Arbor, U-M is a public school with a very large student population. U-M also made our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list, coming in at #9.

About 0.2% of U-M students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 15,737 students at U-M that take at least one class online. There are roughly 3,568 part time students in attendance at U-M.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of Michigan - Ann Arbor Report

6

The #6 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Missouri University of Science and Technology. Located in the town of Rolla, Missouri University of Science and Technology is a public college with a medium-sized student population. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, Missouri University of Science and Technology is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.8%. Approximately 2,726 students take at least one class online at Missouri University of Science and Technology. 1,272 of Missouri University of Science and Technology students are attending part time.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology

7
Virginia Tech crest
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA

Virginia Tech comes in at #7 in this year's ranking. Virginia Tech is a very large public school located in the city of Blacksburg. Virginia Tech also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.5%. There are approximately 19,796 students at Virginia Tech that take at least one class online. 2,831 students are part time.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech Report

8
UF crest
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL

University of Florida earned the #8 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the midsize city of Gainesville, UF is a public college with a fairly large student population. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UF also is in the top 15% of our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering ranking.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.9%. There are approximately 22,865 students at UF that take at least one class online. 11,205 students are part time.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of Florida Report

9

Our rankings recognize New Jersey Institute of Technology as the #9 school in this year's rankings. NJIT is a fairly large public school located in the city of Newark. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, NJIT also did well on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.

About 0.7% of NJIT students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 3,018 students at NJIT that take at least one class online. There are roughly 3,015 part time students in attendance at NJIT.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology

10

Our rankings recognize University of California - Berkeley as the #10 school in this year's rankings. Located in the midsize city of Berkeley, UC Berkeley is a public college with a very large student population. UC Berkeley also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

The student loan default rate at UC Berkeley is lower than is typical, just 0.5% of students default in three years. There are approximately 26,398 students at UC Berkeley that take at least one class online. There are roughly 4,099 part time students in attendance at UC Berkeley.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of California - Berkeley

11

Illinois Institute of Technology comes in at #11 in this year's ranking. Located in the city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, Illinois Tech is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.8%. Approximately 1,752 students take at least one class online at Illinois Tech. 1,354 students are part time.

Read More…

12

Purdue University - Main Campus landed the #12 spot in our 2021 best mechanical engineering schools for non-traditional students. Located in the small city of West Lafayette, Purdue is a public college with a fairly large student population. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, Purdue also did well on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.

About 0.8% of Purdue students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 19,239 students take at least one class online at Purdue. 7,612 of Purdue students are attending part time.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University - Main Campus

13

Our rankings recognize University of Wisconsin - Madison as the #13 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of Madison, UW - Madison is a public college with a fairly large student population. UW - Madison excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

The student loan default rate at UW - Madison is lower than is typical, just 0.2% of students default in three years. There are approximately 11,375 students at UW - Madison that take at least one class online. About 4,683 of the students at UW - Madison are attending part time.

Read More…

14

Northeastern University comes in at #14 in this year's ranking. Northeastern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Boston. Northeastern excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

The student loan default rate at Northeastern is lower than is typical, just 0.5% of students default in three years. There are approximately 7,987 students at Northeastern that take at least one class online. 1,267 students are part time.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Northeastern University

15

Cornell University landed the #15 spot in our 2021 best mechanical engineering schools for non-traditional students. Located in the city of Ithaca, Cornell is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Cornell also is in the top 10% of our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering ranking.

The student loan default rate at Cornell is lower than is typical, just 0.4% of students default in three years. Approximately 2,837 students take at least one class online at Cornell. There are roughly 574 part time students in attendance at Cornell.

Read More…

16

The #16 spot in this year's ranking belongs to University of Minnesota - Twin Cities. UMN Twin Cities is a fairly large public school located in the city of Minneapolis. UMN Twin Cities also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

About 0.6% of UMN Twin Cities students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 21,237 students take at least one class online at UMN Twin Cities. 13,655 of UMN Twin Cities students are attending part time.

Read More…

17

The University of Texas at Austin landed the #17 spot in our 2021 best mechanical engineering schools for non-traditional students. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population. UT Austin excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

About 0.8% of UT Austin students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 23,198 students at UT Austin that take at least one class online. There are roughly 3,479 part time students in attendance at UT Austin.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin

18
Drexel crest
Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA

The #18 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Drexel University. Drexel is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia. As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Drexel also is in the top 20% of our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering ranking.

About 0.9% of Drexel students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 6,249 students take at least one class online at Drexel. There are roughly 5,829 part time students in attendance at Drexel.

Read More…

19

Johns Hopkins University landed the #19 spot in our 2021 best mechanical engineering schools for non-traditional students. Johns Hopkins is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Baltimore. In addition to being on our bet for non-traditional students list, Johns Hopkins is in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

The student loan default rate at Johns Hopkins is lower than is typical, just 0.6% of students default in three years. 14,847 students at Johns Hopkins are exclusively online. 14,794 of Johns Hopkins students are attending part time.

Read More…

20

North Carolina State University landed the #20 spot in our 2021 best mechanical engineering schools for non-traditional students. Located in the large city of Raleigh, NC State is a public school with a fairly large student population. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, NC State also did well on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.

The student loan default rate at NC State is lower than is typical, just 1.0% of students default in three years. Approximately 14,604 students take at least one class online at NC State. 7,732 students are part time.

Full Mechanical Engineering at North Carolina State University Report

21
Michigan State crest
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI

The #21 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Michigan State University. Michigan State is a very large public school located in the small city of East Lansing. Michigan State also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 15% of all schools in this category.

The student loan default rate at Michigan State is lower than is typical, just 0.8% of students default in three years. Approximately 33,526 students take at least one class online at Michigan State. About 6,517 of the students at Michigan State are attending part time.

Read More…

22

Our rankings recognize Ohio State University - Main Campus as the #22 school in this year's rankings. Located in the large city of Columbus, Ohio State is a public college with a fairly large student population. Ohio State excels when it comes to major quality. It's ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list.

About 1.2% of Ohio State students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 42,293 students take at least one class online at Ohio State. About 8,459 of the students at Ohio State are attending part time.

Read More…

23

The #23 spot in this year's ranking belongs to University of Illinois at Chicago. UIC is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Chicago.

About 0.7% of UIC students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. Approximately 19,768 students take at least one class online at UIC. There are roughly 5,712 part time students in attendance at UIC.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago

24

California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo earned the #24 spot in our 2021 rankings. Located in the small suburb of San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is a public school with a very large student population. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo also claimed a spot on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

The school has a low student loan default rate of 0.8%. There are approximately 15,682 students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo that take at least one class online. About 1,455 of the students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo are attending part time.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at California Polytechnic State University - San Luis Obispo

25

Our rankings recognize University of Dayton as the #25 school in this year's rankings. Located in the midsize city of Dayton, UDayton is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population. On top of its placing in our non-traditional rankings, UDayton also did well on our Best Colleges for Mechanical Engineering list. It's in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in that analysis.

About 0.5% of UDayton students default on their loans in three years, which is lower than average. There are approximately 2,652 students at UDayton that take at least one class online. About 1,171 of the students at UDayton are attending part time.

Full Mechanical Engineering at University of Dayton Report

Rest of the Top Schools for Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges for Non-Traditional Students

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28
29
U of U crest
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
30
31
32

33
Oakland crest
Oakland University
Rochester Hills, MI

34

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges for Non-Traditional Students award.

Rank College Location
35 Milwaukee School of Engineering Milwaukee, WI
36 University of Maryland - College Park College Park, MD
37 Arizona State University - Tempe Tempe, AZ
38 Clemson University Clemson, SC
39 Oregon State University Corvallis, OR
40 California State University Maritime Academy Vallejo, CA
41 Rutgers University - New Brunswick New Brunswick, NJ
42 The University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX
43 Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX
44 University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA
45 University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst, MA
46 California State Polytechnic University - Pomona Pomona, CA

Mechanical Engineering by Region

View the best for non-traditional students Mechanical Engineering schools in a specific region near you.

Region
Southeast
New England
Rocky Mountains
Plains States
Middle Atlantic
Far Western US
Southwest
Other U.S. Territories
Great Lakes

Mechanical Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*Avg Cost is for the top 25 schools only.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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