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Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

34 Colleges
$20,528 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$83,900 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree School for You

Mechanical Engineering is the #32 most popular major in the country with 9,007 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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.

The Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 34 schools in the Great Lakes Region to see which master's degree 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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Check out the ME master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Mechanical Engineering Master's Degree Schools

#1

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH

Our analysis found Youngstown State University to be the best value school for mechanical engineering students who want to pursue a master’s degree in the Great Lakes Region . Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Youngstown.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at Youngstown State University are $6,931 per year.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Youngstown State University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Northern Illinois University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUE are $9,316 per year.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

Out of the 34 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Purdue University Northwest landed the # 4 spot on the list. Purdue Northwest is a moderately-sized public school located in the large suburb of Hammond.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Purdue Northwest are $11,356 a year.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University Northwest Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Akron Main Campus. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Akron Main Campus is a large public school located in the city of Akron.

University of Akron Main Campus graduate students pay an average of $11,936 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Lawrence Technological University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the small city of Southfield, Lawrence Tech is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Lawrence Tech graduate students pay an average of $18,436 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#7

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

University of Dayton ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. UDayton is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Dayton.

Out-of-state tuition fees for graduate students at UDayton are $18,140 per year.

On top of its placing in our value ranking, UDayton also did well on our Best Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. It’s in the top 15% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of Dayton

#8

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

Bradley University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Peoria.

Bradley graduate students pay an average of $17,400 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Michigan Technological University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Located in the remote town of Houghton, Michigan Tech is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state graduate students at Michigan Tech are $22,981 a year.

Michigan Tech excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

#10

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

Marquette University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

Marquette graduate students pay an average of $21,960 in tuition and fees each year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Marquette also is in the top 10% of our Best Mechanical Engineering Master’s Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Full Mechanical Engineering at Marquette University Report

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 592
Illinois 346
Ohio 395
Indiana 282
Wisconsin 96

Mechanical Engineering is one of 39 different types of programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 11,021
Civil Engineering 6,042
Computer Engineering 5,557
Biomedical Engineering 4,252
General Engineering 3,548

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 Michel Villeneuve.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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