10 Most Affordable Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering

The cost of col­lege today can make it chal­leng­ing to find an afford­able degree in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing, but the edi­tors of Bach­e­lor Degree Cen­ter have your back. We’ve ranked elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing pro­grams from some of the world’s lead­ing engi­neer­ing schools, but that does­n’t make them are pro­hib­i­tive­ly expen­sive. Engi­neer­ing edu­ca­tion start­ed at the land-grant uni­ver­si­ties, and these pub­lic insti­tu­tions are usu­al­ly com­mit­ted to keep­ing their tuition rates reasonable.

With­out elec­tri­cal and elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing, there is no mod­ern world as we know it. You know a degree in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing is the tick­et to a bet­ter career, and price shouldn’t stop you. Whether you’re pay­ing your own way, or work­ing while you go to school, these afford­able pro­grams will help you get your elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree with­out break­ing the bank.

Methodology: Ranking the Most Affordable Electrical Engineering Degree Programs

To rank the most afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams, Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter didn’t just look at price — although that’s how pro­grams are fea­tured. We ranked only accred­it­ed, respect­ed pro­grams that are known for aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence and real career impact, so stu­dents can know their hard work will pay back many returns.

1. University of Washington

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton offers a BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing that is con­sid­ered among the most afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams with ABET accred­i­ta­tion. This cam­pus-based bac­calau­re­ate degree in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton offers stu­dents two study tracks — a gen­er­al­ist and a study track that empha­sizes mol­e­c­u­lar engi­neer­ing and nanoscience. Class­es for this aca­d­e­m­ic degree pro­gram include fun­da­men­tals of elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing, sig­nal con­di­tion­ing, top­ics in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing and devices and cir­cuits, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton (Wash­ing­ton U) is the state’s flag­ship school. The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton oper­ates mul­ti­ple cam­pus­es in Seat­tle, Both­ell, and Taco­ma. Found­ed in the ear­ly 1860s, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton is now a sea and space-grant school with a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 47,550 grad­u­ate and under­grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton was found­ed near­ly thir­ty years before Wash­ing­ton reached statehood.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of Wash­ing­ton BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

2. University of Utah

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah offers a BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing that is among Utah’s most afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams. Class­es for the Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah’s under­grad­u­ate elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram include semi­con­duc­tor devices, elec­tron­ics fun­da­men­tals, cir­cuits, engi­neer­ing prob­a­bil­i­ty & sta­tis­tics, and ethics in engi­neer­ing, to name a few. In addi­tion, stu­dents enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah’s elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing bachelor’s degree are required to com­plete a junior sem­i­nar and two senior the­sis projects to meet pro­gram requirements.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah is rec­og­nized to be the flag­ship school of the state of Utah’s high­er edu­ca­tion sys­tem. Found­ed in 1850, the Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah’s cam­pus serves more than 32,650 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah was estab­lished pri­or to Utah becom­ing a state.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of Utah BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

3. Purdue University

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty’s Divi­sion of Elec­tri­cal & Com­put­er Engi­neer­ing offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) degree pro­gram in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing (BSEE) that is ABET-accred­it­ed and avail­able on the uni­ver­si­ty’s West Lafayette cam­pus. Stu­dents enrolled in Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty’s afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram have the oppor­tu­ni­ty to con­duct research in the areas of auto­mat­ic con­trol, com­put­ers, optics, pow­er & ener­gy sys­tems, VLSI & cir­cuit design, com­mu­ni­ca­tions, net­work­ing, & image pro­cess­ing, and nanotechnology/microelectronics.

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty (Pur­due) was estab­lished under the Mor­rill Land Act in the late 1860s. The main cam­pus of Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty is sit­u­at­ed near the banks of the near­by Wabash Riv­er. Addi­tion­al­ly, Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty is a space and sea-grant insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion with a stu­dent enroll­ment that nears 46,000 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty’s liv­ing alum­ni cur­rent­ly exceeds 390,000 members.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

Pur­due Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

4. University of Southern Maine

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Maine’s Engi­neer­ing Depart­ment offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing (EE) that is cam­pus-based and accred­it­ed by ABET’s EAC – Engi­neer­ing Accred­it­ing Com­mis­sion. Degree can­di­dates enrolled in the Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Maine’s afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram must com­plete a min­i­mum of 128.5 semes­ter units. Engi­neer­ing core class­es include electro­mechan­i­cal ener­gy con­ver­sion, micro­proces­sor sys­tems, sys­tem dynam­ics, dig­i­tal log­ic, phys­i­cal elec­tron­ics, dig­i­tal sig­nal pro­cess­ing, and cir­cuits, to name a few.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Maine (South­ern Maine) is a mul­ti-cam­pus insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was found­ed in the late 1870s as a state-fund­ed nor­mal school. Addi­tion­al­ly, this space-grant school is the south­ern­most cam­pus in the state’s uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem that serves about 7,650 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents, with a stu­dent-to-fac­ul­ty ratio of 13 to 1.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Maine’s cam­pus­es are locat­ed in Lewis­ton-Auburn, Gorham, and Portland.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of South­ern Maine BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

5. Brigham Young University

The Ful­ton Engi­neer­ing Col­lege at Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of the west­ern Unit­ed States’ most afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams Degree can­di­dates vying for this Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree must com­plete course­work in dig­i­tal sys­tems, cir­cuit analy­sis, elec­tro­mag­net­ic fields, and waves, elec­tric­i­ty, and mag­net­ism, and sta­tis­tics for engi­neers, plus a cap­stone project, to name a few. Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty aver­ages about 400 under­grad­u­ate elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing stu­dents each year.

Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty was estab­lished in the mid-1870s by the LDS Church. The school’s Pro­vo cam­pus is home to more than 33,450 stu­dents. Stu­dents attend­ing Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty must fol­low the uni­ver­si­ty’s hon­or code with includes dress stan­dards and absti­nence, among oth­er commitments.

What We Like: Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty is orga­nized into eleven colleges/schools that offer more than 200 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate degree programs.

Degree: Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

Brigham Young Uni­ver­si­ty Elec­tri­cal and Com­put­er Engineering

6. Arizona State University

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty’s Elec­tri­cal, Com­put­er & Ener­gy Engi­neer­ing School offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree in Engi­neer­ing (BSE) with a spe­cial­ty in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing that can be com­plet­ed on the uni­ver­si­ty’s Tempe cam­pus. Addi­tion­al­ly, this ABET-accred­it­ed, afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram offers tech­ni­cal spe­cial­ties in cir­cuits, sol­id-state devices, com­mu­ni­ca­tion con­trol process­es, pow­er, com­put­er engi­neer­ing, or elec­tro­mag­net­ics. Exam­ples of required class­es for Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty’s bac­calau­re­ate degree in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing include dig­i­tal design, intro to engi­neer­ing design, and fun­da­men­tals of elec­tro­mag­net­ics, to name a few.

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty is a post­sec­ondary research school that was estab­lished in the mid-1880s as a state-fund­ed nor­mal school to train teach­ers. The school main­tains sev­er­al cam­pus­es in Tempe and Phoenix (and online) that serve more than 145,000 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty was found­ed sev­er­al decades before Ari­zona attained Statehood.

Degree: BSE in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty BSE in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

7. North Carolina State University

North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty’s Engi­neer­ing Col­lege offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram that is avail­able on NC State’s Raleigh cam­pus. Stu­dents enrolled in North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty’s afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram must com­plete a min­i­mum of 122 semes­ter cred­its in class­es that include elec­tro­mag­net­ic fields, com­mu­ni­ca­tion for engi­neers, physics for engi­neers, sig­nals, cir­cuits & sys­tems, fun­da­men­tals of log­ic design, micro­elec­tron­ics, and nanoscience & tech­nol­o­gy, to name a few.

Estab­lished as an agri­cul­ture & mechan­i­cal school in 1887, North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty (NCSU) now oper­ates as a sea, land, and space-grant uni­ver­si­ty. Cur­rent­ly, North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty’s urban cam­pus cov­ers more than 2,000 acres and serves a stu­dent enroll­ment that exceeds 36,050 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty is one of sev­en­teen mem­ber schools in the state’s uni­ver­si­ty system.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

North Car­oli­na State Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

8. Iowa State University

Iowa State Uni­ver­si­ty offers one of Iowa’s most afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree under­grad­u­ate pro­grams, with six aca­d­e­m­ic con­cen­tra­tions. These areas of empha­sis are large-scale inte­gra­tion, com­mu­ni­ca­tions, sys­tems and con­trols, elec­tro­mag­net­ics, nano/microelectronics, and elec­tric power/renewable ener­gy sys­tems. Addi­tion­al­ly, this cam­pus-based bac­calau­re­ate degree in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing has a pro­fes­sion­al place­ment rate of 99% with­in six months of grad­u­a­tion. Stu­dents also have the option and oppor­tu­ni­ty to enroll in a con­cur­rent BS and BS degree in elec­tri­cal engineering.

Iowa State Uni­ver­si­ty of Sci­ence & Tech­nol­o­gy (Iowa State) was found­ed as an agri­cul­tur­al col­lege in the late 1850s. This land-grant and flag­ship insti­tu­tion of high­er learn­ing serves approx­i­mate­ly 33,350 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents vying for aca­d­e­m­ic degrees offered by Iowa State Uni­ver­si­ty’s ten colleges/schools.

What We Like: Most of the engi­neer­ing degree pro­grams from Iowa State Uni­ver­si­ty are top-ranked pro­grams by US News and World Report.

Degree: Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Iowa State Uni­ver­si­ty Elec­tri­cal Engineering

9. University of California, Irvine

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Irvine’s Samueli Engi­neer­ing School offers a Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence degree (BS) in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing that pro­vides degree can­di­dates five aca­d­e­m­ic emphases that include com­mu­ni­ca­tion, semiconductors/optoelectronics, dig­i­tal sig­nal pro­cess­ing, RF/Antennas/Microwaves, and elec­tron­ic cir­cuit design. Addi­tion­al­ly, the Irvine cam­pus of UC’s afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram requires enrolled stu­dents to com­plete a cul­mi­nat­ing design expe­ri­ence pri­or to grad­u­a­tion. Stu­dents enrolled in this under­grad­u­ate elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram may opt for one of sev­er­al study abroad inter­na­tion­al opportunities.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia (UCI) was estab­lished in 1965 and is ranked as one of the pub­lic ivies in the coun­try. More than 35,150 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate stu­dents are study­ing on the school’s Irvine cam­pus and on the school’s dis­tance learn­ing platform.

What We Like: The Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia was the first insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that cre­at­ed the country’s first Earth Sys­tem Sci­ence Department.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Uni­ver­si­ty of Cal­i­for­nia, Irvine BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

10. Missouri S&T University

Mis­souri Uni­ver­si­ty of Sci­ence and Tech­nol­o­gy Uni­ver­si­ty offers a BS in Elec­tri­cal Engi­neer­ing that offers a tra­di­tion­al path and an accel­er­at­ed bach­e­lor’s to grad­u­ate degree pro­gram. Mis­souri Uni­ver­si­ty of Sci­ence and Tech­nol­o­gy Uni­ver­si­ty’s afford­able elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree pro­gram is cam­pus-based and requires the com­ple­tion of class­es in con­trol sys­tems, PLC motion con­trol, mecha­tron­ics, con­trol of dynam­ic sys­tems, plant-wide process con­trol, and prob­lems in man­u­fac­tur­ing automa­tion among others.

Mis­souri Uni­ver­si­ty of Sci­ence & Tech­nol­o­gy (MST) is a research insti­tu­tion of high­er edu­ca­tion that was estab­lished in 1870 as a school of min­ing. Addi­tion­al­ly, Mis­souri S&T is a space-grant school and a mem­ber of the state’s uni­ver­si­ty sys­tem with a stu­dent body that exceeds 8,050 under­grad­u­ate and grad­u­ate students.

What We Like: Mis­souri S&T Uni­ver­si­ty oper­ates an on-cam­pus nuclear reac­tor that is used for train­ing, research, and edu­ca­tion and was the first oper­a­tional reac­tor in the state.

Degree: BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

Mis­souri Uni­ver­si­ty of Sci­ence and Tech­nol­o­gy Uni­ver­si­ty BS in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

How Do I Save Money on an Electrical Engineering Degree?

When it comes to pur­su­ing an elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree, there are sev­er­al ways you can go about sav­ing mon­ey. Online pro­grams are often cheap­er already, but there are oth­er ways to save on an online degree. Some of these meth­ods are:

Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lege: When­ev­er pos­si­ble, attend­ing com­mu­ni­ty col­lege can be a great way to save mon­ey on your degree. While this may only account for the first two years of your degree, this is still an excel­lent way to keep costs down in terms of pur­su­ing your elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree.

Apply for Finan­cial Aid: Anoth­er major way to save mon­ey on your elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree is by apply­ing for finan­cial aid. Most schools accept at least some form of finan­cial aid, and many peo­ple are eli­gi­ble with­out even know­ing it. Make sure you take the time to find out which types of aid are avail­able, which types of aid your col­lege of choice accepts, and which types of aid you are eli­gi­ble for. From there, be sure you apply to every­thing you are eli­gi­ble for and that you sub­mit all request­ing doc­u­men­ta­tion to be considered.

Apply for Schol­ar­ships: One less­er con­sid­ered method of sav­ing mon­ey on your elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing bachelor’s degree is by apply­ing for schol­ar­ships. This is because many schol­ar­ships aren’t adver­tised, which means many don’t apply sim­ply because they don’t know about them. Nev­er­the­less, there are hun­dreds or even thou­sands of poten­tial schol­ar­ships that stu­dents can apply for. There are schol­ar­ships you can get based on race, socioe­co­nom­ic sta­tus, being a vet­er­an, and more. There are even some avail­able for pur­su­ing a career as an elec­tri­cal engi­neer. Either way, be advised that schol­ar­ships have very strict rules and dead­lines, so be mind­ful of that when apply­ing. More­over, also keep in mind that there is a vari­ety of schol­ar­ships avail­able all year-round, so you should be look­ing for both the spring and fall semes­ters. And con­trary to what many peo­ple think, online stu­dents can get schol­ar­ships too.

Fin­ish Faster: In some cas­es, you may be able to join accel­er­at­ed pro­grams, which allow you to fin­ish school faster. In those cas­es, you should take the oppor­tu­ni­ty, if pos­si­ble. This can be an excel­lent method of sav­ing mon­ey on your degree.

Search for Best Val­ue Col­leges: Not all col­leges are cre­at­ed equal. By search­ing for the cheap­est elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree, you are bound to find some of the cheap­er options for learn­ing an elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree.

When you’re search­ing for online col­leges and online schools, look for pro­grams accred­it­ed by the Accred­i­ta­tion Board for Engi­neer­ing and Tech­nol­o­gy (ABET). This is the stan­dard for qual­i­ty. Also find out about their admis­sion require­ments, because in-state stu­dents may pay less than out-of-state stu­dents for bachelor’s pro­grams. Intern­ships and cred­it hours for work expe­ri­ence may help save mon­ey as well. Not­ed online schools like Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty, Amer­i­can Pub­lic Uni­ver­si­ty, Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty (ASU), and oth­ers are known for their trans­fer programs.

What Do Electrical Engineers Do?

For those won­der­ing what exact­ly does an elec­tri­cal engi­neer do, that can vary. How­ev­er, in gen­er­al, elec­tri­cal engi­neers are engi­neers who are tasked with the design, devel­op­ment, test­ing, and super­vi­sion of the man­u­fac­tur­ing of elec­tri­cal equip­ment. This equip­ment includes things such as radar and nav­i­ga­tion sys­tems, elec­tric motors, com­mu­ni­ca­tions sys­tems, pow­er gen­er­a­tion equip­ment, and more.

Those pur­su­ing careers in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing will have duties such as:

• Ana­lyz­ing cus­tomer needs to deter­mine the design and costs of any giv­en elec­tri­cal sys­tem plan.
• The devel­op­ment of new ways to use exist­ing elec­tri­cal pow­er systems.
• Exe­cut­ing detailed cal­cu­la­tions to be used in the man­u­fac­tur­ing realm.
• Inves­ti­gat­ing cus­tomer com­plaints to deter­mine the best course of action in terms of prob­lem­at­ic or faulty elec­tri­cal equipment.
• The devel­op­ment of test­ing and main­te­nance pro­ce­dures for elec­tri­cal equipment.
• The inspec­tion of elec­tri­cal equip­ment to ensure it meets all exist­ing stan­dards and regulations.
• Work­ing with project man­agers to ensure that all projects are being com­plet­ed in a time­ly fashion.

More­over, those who are inter­est­ed in pur­su­ing elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing as a career also have an array of options in terms of the sec­tors they will be employed in. For instance, they can work for gov­ern­ment agen­cies or direct­ly for com­pa­nies that are devel­op­ing prod­ucts and sys­tems to be deployed to the gen­er­al pub­lic. Either way, they typ­i­cal­ly work indoors, no mat­ter where they are employed. Nev­er­the­less, if there is a prob­lem in an area oth­er than their office, they are often deployed to these areas to try to fix the prob­lems direct­ly. Also, although they often have a lev­el of flex­i­bil­i­ty with their jobs, those who choose elec­tri­cal engi­neer careers are typ­i­cal­ly expect­ed to work full-time. Over­time is also often an option.

There are also spe­cial­iza­tions in the engi­neer­ing field relat­ed to elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing, such as:

• sys­tems engineering
• robot­ics
• aero­space engineering
• applied sci­ence
• bio­engi­neer­ing
• elec­tron­ic systems
• indus­tri­al engineering
• mechan­i­cal engineering
• telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions

How Much Do Electrical Engineers Make?

Those who are inter­est­ed in careers in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing are always inter­est­ed to know: how much do elec­tri­cal engi­neers make a year? That is some­thing that obvi­ous­ly varies from per­son to per­son. How­ev­er, the medi­an pay for an elec­tri­cal engi­neer, accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics (BLS), is around $100,830 per year. While the low­est per­cent earn around $64,870, and the high­est per­cent earn around $159,520 annually.

Pro­fes­sion­al engi­neers with an online elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing degree, an online bach­e­lor of sci­ence, or anoth­er online bachelor’s degree will make more than tech­ni­cians with a high school diplo­ma, cer­tifi­cate, or asso­ciate degree. But an online mas­ter can make even more that a bach­e­lor of sci­ence in elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing. So if you want to go far­ther, look into a master’s degree.

Oth­er engi­neer­ing jobs, like elec­tri­cal engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy or elec­tron­ics engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy, may pay less. The amount you can earn large­ly depends on your skill sets, the sec­tor you work in, the amount of time you have been work­ing in the field, and more. For instance, those who work in research and devel­op­ment tend to be on the high­er end in terms of wages. On the oth­er hand, those work­ing in gen­er­al engi­neer­ing ser­vices tend to be on the low­er end of the pay scale.

Relat­ed Rankings:

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

15 Best Online Bach­e­lor’s in Elec­tri­cal Engineering

10 Fastest Online Bach­e­lor’s in Elec­tri­cal Engineering