5 Best Online Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering

Key Infor­ma­tion:

• Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty has a top online bach­e­lor’s in mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing.
• Online bach­e­lor’s degrees in mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing offer flex­i­bil­i­ty for stu­dents to com­plete course­work at their own pace.
• Accred­it­ed pro­grams ensure high edu­ca­tion­al stan­dards, often required for pro­fes­sion­al engi­neer­ing licensure.
• Many pro­grams incor­po­rate prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ences through vir­tu­al labs, sim­u­la­tions, and local internships.
• Spe­cial­iza­tions such as robot­ics, aero­space, and ener­gy sys­tems are avail­able, cater­ing to diverse career inter­ests in engineering.

With a degree in mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing, stu­dents can spe­cial­ize in learn­ing how things work. This prac­ti­cal degree will help learn­ers pur­sue careers in a wide vari­ety of indus­tries, includ­ing ener­gy, aero­space, elec­tron­ics, trans­porta­tion, and con­struc­tion. With an online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor degree, grad­u­ates go on to build robots, more effi­cient vehi­cles and new ways to explore oth­er worlds. More down-to-earth appli­ca­tions include invent­ing amuse­ment rides or just mak­ing things work better.

An online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor degree is very adapt­able. Most degrees include cours­es that lay a firm foun­da­tion and mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing. Class­es in a typ­i­cal pro­gram might include sci­ence, com­put­er sci­ence, busi­ness, engi­neer­ing and human­i­ties. Com­mu­ni­ca­tion is a big part of many pro­grams. Grad­u­ates emerge with a sol­id foun­da­tion and tech­ni­cal writ­ing and also take class­es in lan­guage and his­to­ry. Mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing majors will mas­ter equa­tions, cal­cu­lus and lin­ear alge­bra, among oth­er math and sci­ence skills. Gain­ing a firm foun­da­tion in these cours­es can pre­pare grad­u­ates for entry-lev­el jobs as mechan­i­cal engi­neers or for more intense study at the grad­u­ate level.

Methodology: Ranking the Best Online Mechanical Engineering Degrees

To rank the best online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor degree pro­grams, the edi­tors at Bachelor’s Degree Cen­ter focused on accred­it­ed col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties rec­og­nized for val­ue. We ranked pro­grams accord­ing to cur­rent IPEDS and Niche data, includ­ing tuition, stu­dent reviews, and salary potential.

1. Arizona State University

Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty offers the best online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing bach­e­lor’s degree pro­grams avail­able to stu­dents who want to explore new career options. Stu­dents are pro­vid­ed with the advanced tech­nol­o­gy they need to learn nec­es­sary engi­neer­ing skills they will be able to use to build a career. With an online BSE in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, stu­dents have a chance to con­tin­ue earn­ing their degree while they work full time. If they are already work­ing in an engi­neer­ing field, they can add to their expe­ri­ence and pos­si­bly take on a role as an appren­tice. This type of job often­times can turn into a lucra­tive career move if the stu­dent excels in their position.

Stu­dents at Ari­zona State Uni­ver­si­ty are giv­en the best degree pro­grams and offered an exten­sive list of resources to help them achieve their goals. Aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence and the pro­fes­sion­al­ism offered by the fac­ul­ty give stu­dents the best pos­si­ble chance to suc­ceed in build­ing a sol­id career in almost any type of engi­neer­ing field. Grad­u­ates who have worked hard to com­plete their degrees can enter the work­force with confidence.

What We Like: The uni­ver­si­ty is ranked in the top 10 when it comes to online degree pro­grams and glob­al reach.

Degree: BSE in Mechan­i­cal Engineering

Inter­est­ed? Vis­it the Pro­gram Site!

2. University of North Dakota

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Dako­ta offers the best online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing degrees for stu­dents who like this type of work. As part of their edu­ca­tion, engi­neer­ing stu­dents receive the math, sci­ence, and tech­ni­cal train­ing they will need to per­form the nec­es­sary tasks asso­ci­at­ed with their job. As part of their mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing degree, they will work on many projects that will hone their skills and enable them to take on new and excit­ing chal­lenges. By earn­ing an online BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing, the stu­dent can enjoy a flex­i­ble sched­ule and a chance to earn their degree on their own terms.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of North Dako­ta is well-known for being one of the top-ranked schools when it comes to online learn­ing and advanced cur­ricu­lum options. Each stu­dent will gain a bet­ter under­stand­ing of the infor­ma­tion being offered if it is pre­sent­ed by some­one they know who speaks from expe­ri­ence. Grad­u­ates of the uni­ver­si­ty are offered every advan­tage to suc­ceed with­in their field and receive the sup­port of the fac­ul­ty through­out the process.

What We Like: The school employs fac­ul­ty mem­bers who have proven them­selves in their own career fields and bring that wealth of knowl­edge to the classroom.

Degree: BS in Mechan­i­cal Engineering

Inter­est­ed? Vis­it the Pro­gram Site!

3. University of Alabama

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alaba­ma offers the best online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing degrees in the south­ern states. Stu­dents learn the trade skills they will need to work in a pro­fes­sion as a mechan­i­cal engi­neer. This can lead to either a hands-on career as a mechan­ic or in a man­age­r­i­al posi­tion as a super­vi­sor or project leader. Stu­dents who enroll in a BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing pro­gram do so because of the advanced tech­nol­o­gy they are able to uti­lize with­in their train­ing as well as in the work­place. They begin to see what their future could look like.

The Uni­ver­si­ty of Alaba­ma is one of the most rec­og­nized uni­ver­si­ties in the world when it comes to offer­ing advanced skills and state-of-the-art tech­nol­o­gy. The lessons they learn can be imme­di­ate­ly used to improve their per­for­mance in their exist­ing career. With the sup­port of the fac­ul­ty, stu­dents may choose to explore new employ­ment oppor­tu­ni­ties before they grad­u­ate and earn their diplomas.

What We Like: With the online learn­ing plat­form, stu­dents can use the flex­i­bil­i­ty of their sched­ule to incor­po­rate their edu­ca­tion into their busy work schedules.

Degree: BS in Mechan­i­cal Engineering

Inter­est­ed? Vis­it the Pro­gram Site!

4. Indiana State University

Indi­ana State Uni­ver­si­ty offers the best online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing degrees in the Mid­west for stu­dents who are look­ing for a career that will pro­vide them with long-term ben­e­fits. Mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing is a great choice for stu­dents who like to design pieces of equip­ment or tools that can be used in an indus­tri­al or con­struc­tion set­ting. Stu­dents can choose an online BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing Tech­nol­o­gy that will give them every­thing they need to work on machin­ery and equip­ment that are need­ed to keep projects mov­ing forward.

Indi­ana State Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the top schools when it comes to aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence in the field of engi­neer­ing. Fac­ul­ty mem­bers are well-known for their own achieve­ments and accom­plish­ments. This not only gives stu­dents qual­i­ty lessons, it also allows fac­ul­ty mem­bers to use real-life expe­ri­ences in the class­room to ensure that stu­dents are able to grasp the con­cepts being taught.

What We Like: The uni­ver­si­ty has received numer­ous awards when it comes to being at the fore­front in terms of aca­d­e­m­ic excel­lence in the field of engineering.

Degree: BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

Inter­est­ed? Vis­it the Pro­gram Site!

5. Old Dominion University

Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty offers the best online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing degrees for stu­dents who want to work in an envi­ron­ment where design and inge­nu­ity are top moti­va­tors. Stu­dents who choose this degree pro­gram are able to uti­lize the skills they learn almost imme­di­ate­ly. This is espe­cial­ly true if they are already work­ing in a posi­tion where being a mechan­ic or repair­ing pieces of equip­ment is part of the dai­ly rou­tine. With an online BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing Tech­nol­o­gy, they receive all of the advantages.

Old Domin­ion Uni­ver­si­ty is one of the old­est and well-respect­ed schools in the area. With the advanced cur­ricu­lum and pro­fes­sion­al fac­ul­ty mem­bers, stu­dents are able to take advan­tage of every oppor­tu­ni­ty that is pre­sent­ed to them. They also receive valu­able resources that help fur­ther their edu­ca­tion as well as their careers.

What We Like: ODU has offered online learn­ing options for over 35 years giv­ing stu­dents the oppor­tu­ni­ty to earn a degree when a tra­di­tion­al class­room degree was not an option.

Degree: BS in Mechan­i­cal Engi­neer­ing Technology

Inter­est­ed? Vis­it the Pro­gram Site!

What Can I Do with a Mechanical Engineering Degree?

With a bach­e­lor’s in mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing online, stu­dents often take a spe­cial­iza­tion that helps them plan their career path. Core cours­es such as sta­tis­tics and flu­id dynam­ics as well as elec­tron­ics and instru­men­ta­tion can define a stu­dents’ inter­est and help them find their pre­ferred area of specialization.

Com­plet­ing a bach­e­lor’s in mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing online has a num­ber of advan­tages. Stu­dents can choose their own time to study and com­plete assign­ments. This works out well for work­ing adults who want to con­tin­ue their edu­ca­tion with­out inter­rupt­ing their careers or fam­i­ly life.

With their prob­lem-solv­ing approach, mechan­i­cal engi­neers learn to keep a clear head and think log­i­cal­ly. Mechan­i­cal engi­neers excel at explain­ing com­pli­cat­ed issues and apply­ing ana­lyt­i­cal skills to real-world prob­lems. These valu­able skills are trans­fer­able to a num­ber of indus­tries. There­fore, these pro­fes­sion­als are often called upon to clar­i­fy dif­fi­cult con­cepts to peo­ple from a vari­ety of back­grounds. Mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy jobs include work­ing as con­sul­tants in man­age­ment firms. This degree also pre­pares stu­dents for roles such as lead­er­ship or project management.

This degree gives stu­dents the skills need­ed to design the things they cur­rent­ly dream about. Here are just some of the careers wait­ing for those who suc­cess­ful­ly com­plete an online degree in mechan­i­cal engineering:

• Aero­space engineer
• Busi­ness executive
• Con­struc­tion engineer
• Entre­pre­neur
• Auto­mo­tive engineer
• Bio­med­ical engineer
• Man­age­ment consultant
• Intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty attorney
• Man­u­fac­tur­ing engineer
• Mechan­i­cal engineer
• Patent lawyer Project lead
• Project man­ag­er
• Pro­duc­tion engineer
• Prod­uct designer
• Qual­i­ty engineer
• Sales engi­neer
• Petro­le­um engineer
• Process engi­neer
• Ther­mal engineer
• Struc­tur­al engineer
• Tech­nol­o­gy specialist

Mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy jobs offer a vari­ety and these pro­fes­sion­als can be found every­where, from NASA to cos­met­ic com­pa­nies. Stu­dents tak­ing a mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing degree may fight them­selves design­ing com­po­nents for air­planes, appli­ances or man­u­fac­tured products.

Is Mechanical Engineering a Good Career?

Is mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing a good career? Jobs requir­ing a mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing degree often have gen­er­ous salaries, and, accord­ing to PayScale, the aver­age salary for mechan­i­cal engi­neers is $78,113. In addi­tion, mechan­i­cal engi­neers often qual­i­fy for com­mis­sions and bonus­es, depend­ing on the posi­tions they accept. As with many oth­er careers, mechan­i­cal engi­neers work­ing in large cities such as Seat­tle or Los Ange­les earn more than those work­ing in small­er cities.

Is mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing a good career? Accord­ing to PayScale, the job sat­is­fac­tion rate for peo­ple in mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing roles is 3.7 out of five, which falls with­in the high­ly sat­is­fied cat­e­go­ry. Mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing tech­nol­o­gy jobs include those who spe­cial­ize in train­ing oth­ers and soft­ware tools for sim­u­la­tion and design. Grad­u­ates who gain expe­ri­ence with three-dimen­sion­al print­ing and vir­tu­al sim­u­la­tions have an advan­tage over oth­er job seekers.

Accord­ing to the Bureau of Labor Sta­tis­tics, the demand for Mechan­i­cal Engi­neers may grow by 10% per year through 2032. This could mean more than 28,500 job open­ings for mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing grad­u­ates each year.

Is an Online Engineering Bachelor’s Cheaper?

Many online schools have cheap­er tuition rates than pro­grams offer­ing class­es in per­son. Online learn­ers may also save in oth­er ways. For exam­ple, there’s no com­mute, mean­ing stu­dents don’t have to pay for gas, wear and tear on their vehi­cle or lose pro­duc­tive time dri­ving to class. Most online pro­grams have dig­i­tal books and oth­er class­room mate­ri­als. So, stu­dents may also save mon­ey study­ing online because they don’t have to pay for print­ed mate­ri­als. Look­ing for the most afford­able online engi­neer­ing degrees can help stu­dents find com­pet­i­tive rates from accred­it­ed col­leges and uni­ver­si­ties that offer this degree.

Every­thing about enroll­ment in an online bach­e­lor pro­gram will be the same — the same num­ber of cred­it hours, elec­tives, finan­cial aid oppor­tu­ni­ties, intern­ships — and if it’s ABET-accred­it­ed, it will have the same qual­i­ty edu­ca­tion as an on-cam­pus pro­gram. With inter­ac­tive online mod­els, you even get some­thing close to hand-on learn­ing. An in-state pub­lic insti­tu­tion will be afford­able as well. Admis­sion require­ments may be less strict — your high school GPA might not mat­ter as much — and you can become a pro­fes­sion­al engi­neer while still keep­ing your job.

Course­work for a bach­e­lor of sci­ence may include fun­da­men­tals like:

• ther­mo­dy­nam­ics
• mechan­i­cal design
• mechan­i­cal systems
• elec­tri­cal engineering
• com­put­er-aid­ed design
• engi­neer­ing design
• flu­id mechanics
• heat trans­fer
• man­u­fac­tur­ing process
• ther­mal sciences
• prod­uct manufacturing

Online stu­dents in an online mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing pro­gram may study full-time or part-time as they pur­sue their engi­neer­ing career. The mechan­i­cal engi­neer­ing field may open up even more with a master’s degree. An online mas­ter of sci­ence will help your career over an under­grad­u­ate degree, accord­ing to the BLS.

Relat­ed Rankings:

25 Best Bach­e­lor’s in Mechan­i­cal Engineering

10 Most Afford­able Bach­e­lor’s in Mechan­i­cal Engineering