2023 Best Value Colleges for Petroleum Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in the Southeast 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 Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2020-2021, 1,256 people earned their degree in petroleum engineering, making the major the 223rd most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, petroleum engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $83,917 and had an average of $25,780 in loans still to pay off.

Across the Southeast region, there were 193 petroleum engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $73,195 and $27,233 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in petroleum engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent petroleum engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the petroleum engineering program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The petroleum 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 Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k”.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k

The colleges and universities below are the best for southeast region petroleum engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Petroleum Engineering (Income $48-$75k) in the Southeast Region

1

West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia

#3 in overall quality

$13,077 Average Net Price

$46,248 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, West Virginia University landed the #1 spot on the list. West Virginia University is a large public school situated in Morgantown, West Virginia. It awarded 74 ’s petroleum engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at WVU, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend West Virginia University is $13,077 for southeast region petroleum engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

Read more about Petroleum Engineering at West Virginia University

2

Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

#1 in overall quality

$19,623 Average Net Price

$43,255 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k that were part of this year’s ranking, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this large public school handed out 74 diplomas to qualified ’s petroleum engineering students in 2020-2021.

Louisiana State University also took the #1 spot in our “Best Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Louisiana State University is $19,623 for Southeast Region Petroleum Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Petroleum Engineering at Louisiana State University

3

Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, Mississippi

#2 in overall quality

$18,449 Average Net Price

$41,190 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Mississippi State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k list. This large school is located in Mississippi State, Mississippi, and it awarded 15 ’s petroleum engineering degrees in 2020-2021.

Mississippi State also took the #2 spot in our “Best Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Mississippi State is $18,449 for Southeast Region Petroleum Engineering students whose families make $48-$75k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Petroleum Engineering at Mississippi State University

4

University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana

#4 in overall quality

$14,322 Average Net Price

$41,411 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region For Those Making $48-$75k. Lafayette, Louisiana is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s petroleum engineering degrees to 30 students in 2020-2021.

UL Lafayette not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Petroleum Engineering Schools in the Southeast Region” list. It costs about $14,322 for southeast region petroleum engineering students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend UL Lafayette.

Read full report on Petroleum Engineering at University of Louisiana at Lafayette

• Best Value Colleges for Petroleum Engineering (Income $48-$75k)

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.