2026 Best Value General Systems Engineering Schools in Virginia
[General Systems Engineering](/majors/engineering/systems-engineering/general-systems-engineering/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong general systems engineering education at a price that pays off.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 5 schools to find the best return on investment for general systems engineering students.
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2026 Best Value General Systems Engineering Schools in Virginia
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in general systems engineering, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value General Systems Engineering Schools
George Mason University tops our 2026 list of the best value general systems engineering schools in Virginia. Set in the suburb of Fairfax, George Mason University is a very large public institution. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $14,220, while out-of-state students pay about $38,688. General Systems Engineering graduates carry a median of $21,000 in student loans. Early-career general systems engineering graduates make about $101,091. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. Roughly 88% of applicants are accepted.
Students looking for strong value in general systems engineering will find it at Ecpi University, which ranked #2. Ecpi University is a large private for-profit school located in the city of Virginia Beach. The average in-state cost of tuition and fees is $18,484. General Systems Engineering graduates carry a median of $27,988 in student loans. Soon after graduation, general systems engineering degree recipients from Ecpi University generally make around $48,429. That is a strong return on a $27,988 median debt. The acceptance rate is 74%.
Students looking for strong value in general systems engineering will find it at University Of Virginia Main Campus, which ranked #3. University Of Virginia Main Campus is a very large public school located in the suburb of Charlottesville. In-state tuition and fees average $23,118, compared with $61,591 for out-of-state students. General Systems Engineering graduates carry a median of $19,500 in student loans. Early-career general systems engineering graduates make about $103,476. That is a strong return on a $19,500 median debt. The acceptance rate is 17%.
More General Systems Engineering Rankings
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Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 5 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 3 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
