2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Chemical Engineering School for You
In 2020-2021, 836 degrees and certificates were awarded to chemical engineering students who went to a Pennsylvania college or university. This makes it the #52 most popular major in the state.
Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in Pennsylvania to see which programs offered the best value experiences for chem eng students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 Best Chemical Engineering Schools
Our 2023 rankings named University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown the best value school in Pennsylvania for chemical engineering students. Pitt Johnstown is a small public school located in the suburb of Johnstown.
Pitt Johnstown undergraduate students pay an average of $14,352 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, chem eng graduates from Pitt Johnstown carry an average student debtload of $27,000. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $315, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
Full Chemical Engineering at University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Pitt is a fairly large public school located in the large city of Pittsburgh.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Pitt are $20,362 per year. Chem Eng majors at Pitt take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $315, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
Pitt also claimed a spot on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Carnegie Mellon University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.
Carnegie Mellon undergraduate students pay an average of $58,524 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Chem Eng majors at Carnegie Mellon take out an average of $25,500 in student loans while working on their egree.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Carnegie Mellon is ranked #2 for overall quality for chem eng in Pennsylvania.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Lehigh University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Lehigh are $57,470 a year. After completing their degree, chem eng graduates from Lehigh carry an average student debtload of $26,655.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Lehigh also did well on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. It’s in the top 5% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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The excellent programs at Bucknell University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best chemical engineering schools in Pennsylvania. Located in the distant town of Lewisburg, Bucknell is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.
Bucknell undergraduate students pay an average of $59,802 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, chem eng majors at Bucknell accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.
Bucknell did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list.
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University of Pennsylvania did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for chemical engineering students. It came in at #6 on the list. UPenn is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Philadelphia.
UPenn undergraduate students pay an average of $61,710 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UPenn is ranked #3 for overall quality for chem eng in Pennsylvania.
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Villanova University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Villanova is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.
Villanova undergraduate students pay an average of $59,020 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Chem Eng majors at Villanova take out an average of $26,878 in student loans while working on their egree.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Villanova also is in the top 10% of our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.
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Lafayette College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for chemical engineering students. It came in at #8 on the list. Located in the suburb of Easton, Lafayette is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
Lafayette undergraduate students pay an average of $56,364 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, chem eng graduates from Lafayette take out $19,750 in student loans while working on their degree.
Lafayette not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #4 on our Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list.
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Drexel University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for chemical engineering students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Philadelphia, Drexel is a private not-for-profit school with a very large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Drexel are $57,136 per year. After completing their degree, chem eng graduates from Drexel carry an average student debtload of $31,000. For students who choose a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly student loan payment is $864.
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Widener University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the suburb of Chester, Widener is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
Widener undergraduate students pay an average of $49,706 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, chem eng majors at Widener accumulate an average of around $27,000 in student debt.
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Request InformationBest Value Chemical Engineering Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region
Explore all the Best Value Chemical Engineering Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| New York | 870 |
| Maryland | 285 |
| New Jersey | 394 |
| District of Columbia | 23 |
| Delaware | 108 |
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Chemical Engineering Related Majors for Chem Eng
Chemical Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.
Most Popular Majors Related to Chem Eng
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 46,178 |
| Electrical Engineering | 28,844 |
| Civil Engineering | 21,388 |
| Computer Engineering | 17,987 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 12,811 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 10 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 the rest 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Mikulova.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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