2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region
Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices
Finding the Best Mechanical Engineering School for You
Mechanical Engineering is the #21 most popular major in the country with 46,178 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. 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 Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Our analysis looked at 35 schools in the Southwest Region to see which programs offered the best value experiences for ME 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.
Top 10 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools
Our analysis found Austin Community College District to be the best value school for mechanical engineering students who want to pursue a degree in the Southwest Region . Austin Community College District is a very large public school located in the city of Austin.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Austin Community College District are $10,590 a year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Austin Community College District also is in the top 15% of our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region ranking.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend West Texas A&M University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the fringe town of Canyon, West Texas A&M University is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at West Texas A&M University are $11,208 per year. ME majors at West Texas A&M University take out an average of $19,042 in student loans while working on their egree.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lamar University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the medium-sized city of Beaumont, Lamar University is a public college with a fairly large student population.
Lamar University undergraduate students pay an average of $18,482 in tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, ME majors at Lamar University accumulate an average of around $23,056 in student debt.
Full Mechanical Engineering at Lamar University Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Texas Tech University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the city of Lubbock, Texas Tech is a public school with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Texas Tech are $24,121 a year. ME majors at Texas Tech 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 $268, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Texas Tech also did well on our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Houston. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. UH is a very large public school located in the large city of Houston.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UH are $21,891 per year. While working on their degree, ME majors at UH accumulate an average of around $20,000 in student debt.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, UH also did well on our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
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The University of Texas at Austin came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region ranking. Located in the large city of Austin, UT Austin is a public college with a very large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UT Austin are $40,996 a year. After completing their degree, ME graduates from UT Austin carry an average student debtload of $20,500. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $367, based on a 10-year repayment plan.
UT Austin also made our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list, coming in at #2.
Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin
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Texas A&M University - College Station landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value mechanical engineering programs. Texas A&M College Station is a very large public school located in the midsize city of College Station.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Texas A&M College Station are $38,855 a year. The average amount in student loans that ME majors at Texas A&M College Station take out is $21,500. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $240.
Texas A&M College Station also made our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list, coming in at #4.
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With a ranking of #8, MSU Texas did quite well on this year’s best value schools for mechanical engineering students. Located in the midsize city of Wichita Falls, MSU Texas is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MSU Texas are $11,726 per year. While working on their degree, ME majors at MSU Texas accumulate an average of around $31,000 in student debt.
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Oklahoma State University - Main Campus ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the town of Stillwater, OSU is a public college with a very large student population.
OSU undergraduate students pay an average of $24,764 in tuition and fees each year. ME majors at OSU take out an average of $21,500 in student loans while working on their egree. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $225, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.
OSU also claimed a spot on our Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools in this category.
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The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Schools in the Southwest Region list. Located in the midsize city of Edinburg, UT Rio Grande Valley is a public college with a fairly large student population.
UT Rio Grande Valley undergraduate students pay an average of $19,333 in tuition and fees each year. On average, ME graduates from UT Rio Grande Valley take out $14,239 in student loans while working on their degree.
Request InformationBest Mechanical Engineering Colleges by State
Explore the best mechanical engineering colleges for a specific state in the Southwest region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Texas | 3,806 |
| Arizona | 804 |
| Oklahoma | 521 |
| New Mexico | 280 |
More Mechanical Engineering Rankings in the Southwest Region
Mechanical Engineering Related Majors for ME
One of 40 majors within the area of study, mechanical engineering has other similar majors worth exploring.
Majors Similar to ME
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Electrical Engineering | 28,844 |
| Civil Engineering | 21,388 |
| Computer Engineering | 17,987 |
| Chemical Engineering | 12,917 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 12,811 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 26 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 Michel Villeneuve.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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