How Much Does Aerospace Engineering School Cost?
An engineering career that’s absolutely appealing to those who are interested in making aircraft and spacecraft is aerospace engineering. Not only does it allow you to dabble on all things that fly on a daily basis, it’s also a very lucrative profession which potentially gives a mean annual wage in the six figures for those with experience. Before you can get to work designing prototypes of rockets and missiles, you’ll need to get a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering, aerospace engineering technology or related fields. A four-year bachelor’s degree is the typical requirement for entry-level aerospace engineering jobs.
Because going to college is not cheap, the cost of obtaining an aerospace engineering degree is certainly something that you need to plan for. Tuition is just one side of the equation. You’ll have to factor in the cost of books and supplies as well as room, board and your personal expenses while you are in school.
The annual cost of tuition for a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering varies greatly depending on the kind of college you’ll be attending and whether you’ll be attending it in-state or out-of-state. The tuition can go as low as a little over $8,000 in public institutions to over $45,000 in private universities for in-state students. For those studying out-of-state, tuition ranges from about $27,000 for public schools to more than $45,000 for private institutions. On the average, the tuition fee for an in-state aerospace engineering degree would run around $10,500 a year while for someone studying out-of-state the tuition average would be in the vicinity of $36,500.
One of the cheapest institutions to get an aerospace engineering degree would be at Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus. For in-state students, annual tuition is $8,258 while for out-of-state students, tuition cost is $27,562. At the University of Colorado Boulder, the cost of tuition for in-state students is similar at $8,760 while for out-of-state students, it is $30,528.
No discussion of engineering schools would be complete without mentioning the top-ranked aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering school by the U.S. News & World Report Education, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At MIT, the annual tuition for both in-state and out-of-state students is the same at $43,210. The California Institute of Technology is another top school. Its tuition for in-state and out-of-state students is also the same at $39,990. Stanford University’s tuition fee for this program is $42,690.
Books and fees for an aerospace engineering degree also vary. It ranges from a low of $0 to a high of more than $2,900 annually. As far as books go, an aerospace engineering student can expect to shell out anywhere from $850 to $1,800 a year.
Housing and food expenses vary. Prevailing budgets for living expenses of students in off-campus arrangements is $23,010 a year based on College Board data. However, students can budget around $15,420 for living expenses but this would entail some belt-tightening. This budget covers housing (55 percent), transportation (17 percent) and miscellaneous expenses (28 percent).
Be sure to ask your school’s financial aid office about possible sources of financial aid if you need assistance to fund your education. You can apply for grants or merit-based or need-based scholarships or if you don’t qualify for those, you can try getting student loans to fund your aerospace engineering degree. You may also look for part-time work opportunities while you are in school.
Career Spotlight: Aerospace Engineer
An aerospace engineer designs and make prototypes of rockets, missiles and satellites. In order to come up with fresh technologies for defense systems, aviation and spacecraft, you can choose to focus[...]
