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2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s

7 Ranked Colleges
219 Degrees Awarded
$20,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor's

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 689 people earned their degree in materials sciences, making the major the 258th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, materials sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $60,225 and had an average of $23,698 in loans still to pay off.

At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 219 materials sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,303 and $24,501 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in materials sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent materials sciences 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 materials sciences program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The materials science 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 Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s

The colleges and universities below are the best for bachelor’s degree materials science students.

Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Sciences

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s list. University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire is located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 bachelors’s materials science degrees to qualified students.

UW - Eau Claire also made our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #7. The yearly cost to attend University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire is $16,020 for Bachelor’s Degree Materials Science students.

Read full report on Materials Sciences at UW - Eau Claire

#2

University of Arizona

Tucson, Arizona

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Arizona. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s list. This large school is located in Tucson, Arizona, and it awarded 17 bachelors’s materials science degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Arizona, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Arizona is $15,016 for bachelor’s degree materials science students.

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 more about Materials Sciences at University of Arizona

#3

University of California - Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of California - Los Angeles. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s list. University of California - Los Angeles is a public institution located in Los Angeles, California. The school has a large population, and it awarded 19 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UCLA did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. The yearly cost to attend UCLA is $14,279 for Bachelor’s Degree Materials Science students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Materials Sciences at UCLA

#4 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, University of California - Berkeley landed the #4 spot on the list. University of California - Berkeley is a large school located in Berkeley, California that handed out 36 bachelors’s materials science degrees in 2019-2020.

UC Berkeley also took the #4 spot in our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UC Berkeley is $15,329 for bachelor’s degree materials science students.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 96%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Materials Sciences at University of California - Berkeley

#3 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia University in the City of New York landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in New York, New York, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 5 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s materials science students in 2019-2020.

Columbia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list. It costs about $23,306 for bachelor’s degree materials science students per year to attend Columbia.

With a freshman retention rate of 95%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 2.1% 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%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Columbia Materials Sciences Report

#6

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Carnegie Mellon University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s ranking. Carnegie Mellon University is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It awarded 34 bachelors’s materials science degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our bachelor’s degree materials science students list, Carnegie Mellon has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Carnegie Mellon is $34,508 for Bachelor’s Degree Materials Science students.

The low student loan default rate of 0.6% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 96%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Materials Sciences at Carnegie Mellon

#7

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

With a ranking of #7, Northwestern University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Materials Science Schools for a Bachelor’s list. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s materials science degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also made our “Best Materials Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern University is $24,664 for bachelor’s degree materials science students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Materials Sciences at Northwestern

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 Per Henning.

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