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Best Value Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

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2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

37 Colleges
$29,920 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$69,005 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Engineering School for You

With 61,791 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, engineering is the #4 most popular major in the United States.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. This report analyzed 37 schools in the Great Lakes Region 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.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for engineering majors pursuing a .

Top 10 Best Engineering Schools

#1

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH
$9,732 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Youngstown State University the best value school in the Great Lakes Region for engineering students. Youngstown State University is a fairly large public school located in the city of Youngstown.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Youngstown State University are $9,732 a year.

Read full report on Engineering at Youngstown State University

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 37 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a fairly large student population.

SIUE undergraduate students pay an average of $11,496 in tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 37 schools in the Great Lakes Region that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at NIU are $14,738 a year.

Read full report on Engineering at Northern Illinois University

$11,880 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Akron Main Campus. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. University of Akron Main Campus is a fairly large public school located in the medium-sized city of Akron.

University of Akron Main Campus undergraduate students pay an average of $11,880 in tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Engineering at University of Akron Main Campus

$14,349 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Purdue University Northwest. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list. Purdue Northwest is a medium-sized public school located in the large suburb of Hammond.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Purdue Northwest are $14,349 a year.

Read full report on Engineering at Purdue University Northwest

#6

University of Dayton

Dayton, OH

With a ranking of #6, University of Dayton did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering students. UDayton is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Dayton.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at UDayton are $44,890 a year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, UDayton also is in the top 15% of our Best Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking.

Read More…

Lawrence Technological University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. Located in the city of Southfield, Lawrence Tech is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lawrence Tech are $37,680 per year.

Full Engineering at Lawrence Technological University Report

#8

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

With a ranking of #8, Bradley University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering students. Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Peoria.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Bradley are $36,360 a year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Bradley is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Full Engineering at Bradley University Report

#9

Marquette University

Milwaukee, WI

With a ranking of #9, Marquette University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering students. Located in the city of Milwaukee, Marquette is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate student at Marquette are $45,766 a year.

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

Read More…

With a ranking of #10, Michigan Technological University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for engineering students. Located in the town of Houghton, Michigan Tech is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Michigan Tech are $39,723 per year.

In addition to its great value ranking, Michigan Tech is in the top 5% of all schools on our Best Engineering Schools in the Great Lakes Region list.

Read More…

Best Engineering Colleges by State

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

State Degrees Awarded
Illinois 2,311
Indiana 1,581
Ohio 2,427
Wisconsin 755
Michigan 3,043

Engineering Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering 11,021
Mechanical Engineering 9,007
Civil Engineering 6,042
Computer Engineering 5,557
Biomedical Engineering 4,252
General Engineering 3,548
Systems Engineering 3,068
Industrial Engineering 3,028
Chemical Engineering 2,662
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 2,375
Other Engineering 1,820
Materials Engineering 1,810
Operations Research 1,191
Electrical and Computer Engineering. 928
Environmental Engineering 919
Robotics Engineering 560
Engineering Science 451
Nuclear Engineering 437
Manufacturing Engineering 423
Petroleum Engineering 401
Agricultural Engineering 332
Construction Engineering 288
Engineering Physics 286
Architectural Engineering 243
Geoscience Engineering 173
Polymer & Plastics Engineering 167
Engineering Mechanics 144
Mining Engineering 132
Ocean Engineering 112
Textile Engineering 96
Biological Engineering 80
Energy Systems Engineering 79
Marine Engineering 44
Metallurgical Engineering 40
Biochemical Engineering 21
Ceramic Engineering 20
Electromechanical Engineering 16
Surveying Engineering 11
Paper Science & Engineering 7

Majors Similar to Engineering

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer & Information Sciences 60,971
Biological & Biomedical Sciences 28,851
Mathematics & Statistics 15,127
Physical Sciences 12,705
Engineering Technologies 7,672

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 Petty Officer 3rd Class Declan Barnes.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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