Best Value Colleges for Manufacturing Engineering
Schools ranked by payback period — how quickly you recoup your investment through higher earnings.
12
Schools Ranked
$67,653
Avg. Earnings
1.7 yrs
Best Payback
385
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 | Major Earnings | Payback |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brigham Young University Provo, UT · Private | $65,486 | 1.7 yrs |
| 2 | Ferris State University Big Rapids, MI · Public | $66,941 | 1.7 yrs |
| 3 | Saint Cloud State University Saint Cloud, MN · Public | $65,387 | 1.7 yrs |
| 4 | California State Polytechnic University-Pomona Pomona, CA · Public | $69,338 | 1.9 yrs |
| 5 | University of Wisconsin-Stout Menomonie, WI · Public | $65,131 | 2 yrs |
| 6 | North Dakota State University-Main Campus Fargo, ND · Public | $67,660 | 2 yrs |
| 7 | National University San Diego, CA · Private | $78,343 | 2.2 yrs |
| 8 | Texas State University San Marcos, TX · Public | $57,318 | 2.3 yrs |
| 9 | Oregon State University-Cascades Campus Bend, OR · Public | $69,338 | 2.4 yrs |
| 10 | Oregon State University Corvallis, OR · Public | $69,338 | 2.5 yrs |
| 11 | Bradley University Peoria, IL · Private | $69,897 | 2.7 yrs |
| 12 | Dunwoody College of Technology Minneapolis, MN · Private | $67,660 | 3.2 yrs |
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.