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Best Value Engineering Schools in Virginia

2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in Virginia

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

6 Colleges
$14,844 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$68,411 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering School for You

Engineering is one of the most popular subjects to study in Virginia. With 5,181 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 9th out of all the majors we track in the state.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Engineering Schools in Virginia ranking. This report analyzed 6 schools in Virginia to see which ones offered the best value programs for engineering 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.

Best Virginia Schools for Affordable Quality in Engineering

#1

Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, VA
$14,174 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Virginia Tech to be the best value school for engineering students who want to pursue a degree in Virginia. Located in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia Tech is a public college with a very large student population.

Virginia Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $14,174 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, engineering majors at Virginia Tech accumulate an average of around $25,824 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $458.

Virginia Tech also took the #3 spot in our Best Engineering Schools in Virginia rankings.

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$19,785 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at University of Virginia - Main Campus helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best engineering schools in Virginia. Located in the suburb of Charlottesville, University of Virginia is a public school with a fairly large student population.

University of Virginia undergraduate students pay an average of $19,785 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that engineering majors at University of Virginia take out is $19,296.

University of Virginia not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Engineering Schools in Virginia list.

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#3

Old Dominion University

Norfolk, VA
$10,800 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Old Dominion University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best engineering schools in Virginia. Located in the city of Norfolk, Old Dominion is a public college with a fairly large student population.

Old Dominion undergraduate students pay an average of $10,800 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, engineering majors at Old Dominion accumulate an average of around $25,000 in student debt. The average monthly payment of a loan this size is about $129, assuming that the borrower is on a 10-year repayment plan.

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#4

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA
$13,119 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at George Mason University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best engineering schools in Virginia. Located in the large suburb of Fairfax, GMU is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at GMU are $13,119 a year. On average, engineering graduates from GMU take out $25,087 in student loans while working on their degree.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, GMU also is in the top 15% of our Best Engineering Schools in Virginia ranking.

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$15,028 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Virginia Commonwealth University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best engineering schools in Virginia. Located in the medium-sized city of Richmond, VCU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

VCU undergraduate students pay an average of $15,028 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, engineering graduates from VCU carry an average student debtload of $24,776.

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#6

Liberty University

Lynchburg, VA
$16,160 Average Tuition & Fees

Liberty University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for engineering students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the city of Lynchburg, Liberty University is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

Liberty University undergraduate students pay an average of $16,160 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Engineering majors at Liberty University take out an average of $27,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

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Best Value Engineering Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
North Carolina 5,126
West Virginia 990
Mississippi 1,512
South Carolina 2,318
Florida 9,040
Arkansas 1,082
Alabama 3,927
Kentucky 1,343
Georgia 5,301
Tennessee 2,281
Louisiana 1,832

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 6 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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