Engineering focuses on different aspects of building and developing new products. You may focus on research and development, or you may work on the maintenance of an existing machine or tool. It gives you the flexibility to focus on specific areas of building, developing, researching, or improving technology.

Many of the best engineering schools are household names, such as MIT, Stanford, and UCLA, but what many people may not realize is what value even the best schools are. Sure, some of them have high price tags, but don’t let sticker shock slow you down: the top schools are interested in getting the very best students, and financial aid is usually generous. Some of the most elite will even meet all of a student’s needs without student loans, all for the sake of getting the very best. Even for students who end up with loan debt, the engineering field has such a need for qualified people that salaries are high and benefits are competitive – you’ll be paying off your loan in no time.

Is an Online Engineering Bachelor’s Cheaper?

An online degree is typically cheaper to earn than a bachelor’s degree in engineering on-campus. When a person pays for a degree on campus, the school tends to add on the operational costs and other fees that are specific to going to school at a particular location and the cost it takes to run that facility.

Additionally, it’s possible to earn a degree from a school that’s known for online degrees as opposed to one that a person pays for the name of rather than the education alone.  

Despite the cost differences, a person should compare his or her options to find the most affordable engineering schools. Generally, a person can find the most affordable online engineering degrees by performing a search and looking at the school’s site. Often, the school will provide the amount of tuition.

A person can also make attending engineering school more affordable. For instance, in addition to finding the most affordable engineering schools, a person can also start at a community college and either earn an undergraduate degree or just take his or her general credits.  

Also, while it’s still important to look for the most affordable online engineering degrees, a person can also look into scholarships and grants to make a program more affordable. Another option is looking into employer reimbursement programs, which pay for a portion of a student’s education if a student agrees to work for the employer for a designated amount of time. 

What’s the Average Salary of an Engineer?

The types of engineering and salaries vary. However, individuals may earn $100,000 per year or more. To answer what can you do with an engineering degree besides engineering, a person can become a pyrotechnic engineer if he or she has a degree in chemical engineering or a food engineer. 

Typically, a mechanical engineer makes an average of $87,370 per year, which is the same as $42.00 per hour. States like Alaska, Washington D.C., New Mexico, Maryland, and California are known for having higher mechanical engineer salaries. For instance, in Alaska, a mechanical engineer earns an average of $128,690.

A chemical engineer earns an average of $104,910 annually. This is the same as $50.44 per hour. The median salary for a civil engineer is $86,640 per year while a nuclear engineer earns an average of $51.73 per hour or $107,600 per year. 

A biomedical engineer, on the other hand, makes an average of $88,550 per year, which is the same as $42.57 per hour. 

These statistics show that any type of engineering can make a person a lucrative career. Pay varies slightly, so a person may want to consider other aspects when making a choice, such as what areas of science a person is most interested in.

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