2023 Best Value Colleges for Mining Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Rocky Mountains Region

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. 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 Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Mining Engineering is the 306th most popular major in the country with 314 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, mining engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $69,426 and had an average of $26,873 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Rocky Mountains region, there were 70 mining engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $69,334 and $25,500 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in mining engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mining engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the mining engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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 Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for rocky mountains region mining engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 2 Best Value Colleges for Mining Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Rocky Mountains Region

1

Colorado School of Mines
Golden, Colorado

#1 in overall quality

$16,977 Average Net Price

$72,191 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Colorado School of Mines landed the #1 spot on the list. Golden, Colorado is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s mining engineering degrees to 41 students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our rocky mountains region mining engineering students whose families make $0-$30k list, Mines has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Mines is $16,977 for rocky mountains region mining engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 92%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Mining Engineering at Mines

2

Montana Technological University
Butte, Montana

#2 in overall quality

$11,954 Average Net Price

$63,042 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Montana Technological University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region For Those Making $0-$30k. Montana Technological University is a small public school situated in Butte, Montana. It awarded 21 ’s mining engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Montana Tech, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Mining Engineering Schools in the Rocky Mountains Region” ranking. It costs about $11,954 for rocky mountains region mining engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Montana Technological University.

Read more about Mining Engineering at Montana Tech

• Best Value Colleges for Mining Engineering (Income $0-$30k)

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 Alastair Rae.