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Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania

2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

17 Colleges
$39,181 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$70,080 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering School for You

In 2020-2021, engineering students earned 10,045 degrees and certificates from a Pennsylvania school, making the subject the 4th 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 Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Our analysis looked at 17 schools in Pennsylvania to see which programs offered the best value experiences for engineering 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 Engineering Schools

$8,450 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology the best value school in Pennsylvania for engineering students. Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology is a small public school located in the small city of Lancaster.

Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology undergraduate students pay an average of $8,450 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Engineering majors at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology take out an average of $11,476 in student loans while working on their egree.

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$14,352 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Pitt Johnstown is a small public school located in the small suburb of Johnstown.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Pitt Johnstown are $14,352 per year. The average amount in student loans that engineering majors at Pitt Johnstown take out is $26,994. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $481, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Full Engineering at University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown Report

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$13,394 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania is a great value for engineering students. Located in the town of Shippensburg, Ship is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Ship undergraduate students pay an average of $13,394 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Engineering majors at Ship take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value 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. On average, engineering graduates from Pitt take out $26,538 in student loans while working on their degree. This translates to an average monthly loan payment of $481, based on a 10-year repayment plan.

Pitt excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list.

Full Engineering at University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus Report

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means York College of Pennsylvania is a great value for engineering students. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the midsize suburb of York.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at YCP are $22,350 a year. After completing their degree, engineering graduates from YCP carry an average student debtload of $27,000.

Full Engineering at York College of Pennsylvania Report

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#6

Temple University

Philadelphia, PA
$17,378 Average Tuition & Fees

Temple University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Temple are $17,378 a year. Engineering majors at Temple take out an average of $26,500 in student loans while working on their egree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $384.

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#7

Villanova University

Villanova, PA
$59,020 Average Tuition & Fees

Villanova University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Villanova is a large private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Villanova.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Villanova are $59,020 per year. On average, engineering graduates from Villanova take out $26,360 in student loans while working on their degree.

Villanova excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list.

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#8

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA
$57,470 Average Tuition & Fees

Lehigh University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Lehigh is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the small city of Bethlehem.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Lehigh are $57,470 a year. On average, engineering graduates from Lehigh take out $24,667 in student loans while working on their degree. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $633.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Lehigh also is in the top 5% of our Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.

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#9

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon are $58,524 a year. On average, engineering graduates from Carnegie Mellon take out $23,649 in student loans while working on their degree.

Carnegie Mellon not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #2 on our Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list.

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#10

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
$61,710 Average Tuition & Fees

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

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UPenn are $61,710 a year. After completing their degree, engineering graduates from UPenn carry an average student debtload of $12,474.

UPenn also made our Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list, coming in at #3.

Full Engineering at University of Pennsylvania Report

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Best Value Engineering Colleges in the Middle Atlantic Region

Explore all the Best Value Engineering Schools in the Middle Atlantic Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
New Jersey 4,817
New York 12,696
Maryland 4,465
Delaware 580
District of Columbia 689

Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering 46,178
Electrical Engineering 28,844
Civil Engineering 21,388
Computer Engineering 17,987
Chemical Engineering 12,917
Biomedical Engineering 12,811
General Engineering 11,796
Industrial Engineering 9,072
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 8,001
Systems Engineering 3,904
Materials Engineering 3,415
Other Engineering 2,760
Environmental Engineering 2,759
Operations Research 1,698
Agricultural Engineering 1,472
Engineering Science 1,454
Electrical and Computer Engineering. 1,378
Petroleum Engineering 1,256
Robotics Engineering 1,243
Architectural Engineering 1,012
Engineering Physics 994
Manufacturing Engineering 947
Construction Engineering 878
Nuclear Engineering 864
Marine Engineering 445
Biological Engineering 410
Polymer & Plastics Engineering 360
Geoscience Engineering 325
Mining Engineering 314
Textile Engineering 310
Ocean Engineering 285
Engineering Mechanics 272
Metallurgical Engineering 179
Energy Systems Engineering 138
Biochemical Engineering 109
Ceramic Engineering 94
Surveying Engineering 73
Electromechanical Engineering 45
Forest Engineering 41
Paper Science & Engineering 27
Engineering Chemistry 13

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 254,454
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 177,778
Engineering Technologies 85,188
Mathematics & Statistics 52,396
Physical Sciences 50,306

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 17 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 Petty Officer 3rd Class Declan Barnes.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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