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Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania

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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.

2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania

Check out the engineering programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

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 city of Lancaster.

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

Read full report on Engineering at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology

$14,352 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown is a great value for engineering students. Pitt Johnstown is a small public school located in the 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

$13,394 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. Located in the town of Shippensburg, Ship is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

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

Read full report on Engineering at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means University of Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Campus is a great value for engineering students. 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.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Pitt also is in the top 20% of our Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking.

Read More…

Out of the 17 schools in Pennsylvania that were part of this year’s ranking, York College of Pennsylvania landed the # 5 spot on the list. YCP is a small private not-for-profit school located in the 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

#6

Temple University

Philadelphia, PA
$17,378 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, Temple University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering students. Located in the large city of Philadelphia, Temple is a public college with a very 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.

Read full report on Engineering at Temple University

#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.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, Villanova also did well on our Best Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Full Engineering at Villanova University Report

#8

Lehigh University

Bethlehem, PA
$57,470 Average Tuition & Fees

Lehigh University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for engineering students. It came in at #8 on the list. Lehigh is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Bethlehem.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lehigh are $57,470 per 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.

Read More…

#9

Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA

Carnegie Mellon University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for engineering students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Carnegie Mellon undergraduate students pay an average of $58,524 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, engineering graduates from Carnegie Mellon take out $23,649 in student loans while working on their degree.

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 engineering in Pennsylvania.

Read full report on Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University

#10

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA
$61,710 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Pennsylvania came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools in Pennsylvania ranking. UPenn is a very 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

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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