Best Value / By Major

Best Value Colleges for Engineering Technology, General

Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.

35

Schools Ranked

$56,122

Avg. Earnings

<1 yr

Best Payback

1,833

Graduates

How we calculate value: Payback = (4 years of net price) / (major earnings - $35k baseline). A 2-year payback means you recoup your investment in 2 years through higher earnings vs. not attending college.

#	School	Net Price/yr	Major Earnings	Payback
1	Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus Portales, NM · Public	$10,322	$97,959	<1 yr
2	Purdue University-Main Campus West Lafayette, IN · Public	$8,450	$62,012	1.3 yrs
3	New Mexico State University-Main Campus Las Cruces, NM · Public	$11,116	$59,253	1.8 yrs
4	Bemidji State University Bemidji, MN · Public	$14,520	$63,005	2.1 yrs
5	University of Central Missouri Warrensburg, MO · Public	$14,267	$59,937	2.3 yrs
6	California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public	$15,958	$63,005	2.3 yrs
7	Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL · Public	$13,778	$57,888	2.4 yrs
8	Morehead State University Morehead, KY · Public	$13,087	$56,544	2.4 yrs
9	Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA · Public	$19,365	$66,287	2.5 yrs
10	Texas A&M University-College Station College Station, TX · Public	$17,525	$63,463	2.5 yrs
11	Western Illinois University Macomb, IL · Public	$15,794	$60,771	2.5 yrs
12	Southwestern Oklahoma State University Weatherford, OK · Public	$13,730	$57,318	2.5 yrs
13	University of Memphis Memphis, TN · Public	$16,825	$61,020	2.6 yrs
14	University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI · Public	$15,247	$58,673	2.6 yrs
15	Tennessee Technological University Cookeville, TN · Public	$17,588	$60,256	2.8 yrs
16	Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, MO · Public	$13,157	$53,775	2.8 yrs
17	New Jersey Institute of Technology Newark, NJ · Public	$18,451	$60,298	2.9 yrs
18	Western Carolina University Cullowhee, NC · Public	$14,701	$54,996	2.9 yrs
19	Miami University-Oxford Oxford, OH · Public	$23,513	$66,821	3 yrs
20	Kansas State University Manhattan, KS · Public	$16,868	$56,867	3.1 yrs
21	Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond, LA · Public	$13,590	$52,107	3.2 yrs
22	Southern Utah University Cedar City, UT · Public	$13,460	$51,273	3.3 yrs
23	East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN · Public	$15,113	$52,107	3.5 yrs
24	Lawrence Technological University Southfield, MI · Private	$33,641	$73,949	3.5 yrs
25	Tarleton State University Stephenville, TX · Public	$21,117	$56,641	3.9 yrs
26	West Texas A & M University Canyon, TX · Public	$14,196	$48,432	4.2 yrs
27	Drexel University Philadelphia, PA · Private	$33,921	$64,493	4.6 yrs
28	Middle Tennessee State University Murfreesboro, TN · Public	$14,498	$47,729	4.6 yrs
29	Temple University Philadelphia, PA · Public	$21,568	$50,606	5.5 yrs
30	Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public	$12,996	$43,798	5.9 yrs
31	Kent State University at Kent Kent, OH · Public	$19,508	$41,193	12.6 yrs
32	Grambling State University Grambling, LA · Public	$19,738	$40,485	14.4 yrs
33	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL · Public	$14,499	$38,829	15.1 yrs
34	Berea College Berea, KY · Private	$6,551	$26,353	N/A
35	The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edinburg, TX · Public	$5,452	$29,685	N/A

Top Earners in Engineering Technology, General

See schools ranked by earnings alone, without considering cost.

Best Value Rankings

Explore best value colleges across all majors and categories.

Payback uses earnings by major from the College Scorecard's field-of-study file, last updated June 2026, against net price from the June 2026 release. Scorecard publishes the two separately, so they are different vintages.