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Best Value Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

39 Colleges
$25,096 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$62,958 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Civil Engineering School for You

Civil Engineering is the #50 most popular major in the country with 21,388 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 39 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which ones offered the best value programs for civil eng students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

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.

2023 Best Value Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for civil eng majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Civil Engineering Schools

$11,880 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named University of Akron Main Campus the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for civil engineering students. University of Akron Main Campus is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Akron.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at University of Akron Main Campus are $11,880 per year. On average, civil eng graduates from University of Akron Main Campus take out $22,000 in student loans while working on their degree.

Full Civil Engineering at University of Akron Main Campus Report

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 39 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at SIUE are $11,496 a year. On average, civil eng graduates from SIUE take out $25,375 in student loans while working on their degree. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $309.

Read More…

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of Wisconsin - Platteville is a great value for civil engineering students. UW - Platteville is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Platteville.

UW - Platteville undergraduate students pay an average of $16,483 in tuition and fees each year. On average, civil eng graduates from UW - Platteville take out $26,750 in student loans while working on their degree.

UW - Platteville also claimed a spot on our Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools in this category.

Full Civil Engineering at University of Wisconsin - Platteville Report

#4

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH
$9,732 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 39 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Youngstown State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Youngstown State University is a large public school located in the city of Youngstown.

Youngstown State University undergraduate students pay an average of $9,732 in tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from Youngstown State University carry an average student debtload of $27,272.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at Youngstown State University

#5

Baker College

Owosso, MI
$12,420 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Baker College helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best civil engineering schools in the Great Lakes Region . Located in the town of Owosso, Baker College is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Baker College undergraduate students pay an average of $12,420 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at Baker College

$14,349 Average Tuition & Fees

Purdue University Northwest did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #6 on the list. Purdue Northwest is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Hammond.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Purdue Northwest are $14,349 a year.

Read More…

$16,768 Average Tuition & Fees

Western Michigan University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the city of Kalamazoo, WMU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WMU are $16,768 per year. The average amount in student loans that civil eng majors at WMU take out is $29,500.

Full Civil Engineering at Western Michigan University Report

$37,680 Average Tuition & Fees

Lawrence Technological University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Southfield, Lawrence Tech is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Lawrence Tech are $37,680 a year. After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from Lawrence Tech carry an average student debtload of $29,874.

Full Civil Engineering at Lawrence Technological University Report

#9

Purdue University - Main Campus

West Lafayette, IN

Purdue University - Main Campus came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Purdue is a very large public school located in the small city of West Lafayette.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Purdue are $28,794 per year. After completing their degree, civil eng graduates from Purdue carry an average student debtload of $20,569.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Purdue also is in the top 5% of our Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at Purdue University - Main Campus

#10

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

University of Dayton did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for civil engineering students. It came in at #10 on the list. UDayton is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Dayton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UDayton are $44,890 a year. On average, civil eng graduates from UDayton take out $25,500 in student loans while working on their degree.

In addition to its great value ranking, UDayton is in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Civil Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read full report on Civil Engineering at University of Dayton

Best Civil Engineering Colleges by State

Explore the best civil engineering schools for a specific state in the Great Lakes region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 443
Ohio 746
Illinois 816
Indiana 487
Wisconsin 410

Civil Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917
Biomedical Engineering 12,811

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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 Master Sgt. Roger Parsons.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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