If you plan on getting your associate degree in mechanical engineering technology, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #60 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2025, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Mechanical Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 411 associate degrees in mechanical engineering technology during the 2022-2023 academic year.
DEBUG: Checking offer "Science & Engineering Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.6
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Science & Engineering Bachelors Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.6)
DEBUG: Checking offer "Science & Engineering Diploma Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" with relevance 0.6
DEBUG: ✗ Offer "Science & Engineering Diploma Programs (I Have a HS Diploma or Associate Degree)" REJECTED (relevance 0.6)
DEBUG: relevant_offers count = 0
DEBUG: No relevant offers, showing generic ESYOH widget
Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering Technology School for Your Associate Degree
Your choice of mechanical engineering technology for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality me tech program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
Overall Quality Is a Must
The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Average Early-Career Salaries
To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their associate degree from the school. After all, your associate degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on mechanical engineering technology students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other mechanical engineering technology students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt mechanical engineering technology students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized mechanical engineering technology related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for mechanical engineering technology students working on their associate degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Mechanical Engineering Technology Associate Degree Schools in the Great Lakes Region list, to help you choose the best school for you.
DEBUG: Raw major_slug = "engineering-technologies//mechanical-engineering-technology"
Ferris State University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in mechanical engineering technology. Located in the remote town of Big Rapids, Ferris is a public university with a medium-sized student population.
Mechanical Engineering Technology associate degree recipients from Ferris State University earn a boost of about $6,892 above the average earnings of mechanical engineering technology graduates.
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in mechanical engineering technology. Located in the large city of Cincinnati, Cincinnati State is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the me tech program make around $45,873 for their early career.
Owens Community College is a great decision for individuals pursuing an associate degree in mechanical engineering technology. Owens State Community College is a medium-sized public college located in the suburb of Perrysburg.
Those mechanical engineering technology students who get their associate degree from Owens Community College receive $11,094 more than the standard me tech graduate.
University of Akron Main Campus is a fairly large public university located in the city of Akron.
Those mechanical engineering technology students who get their associate degree from University of Akron Main Campus earn $2,250 more than the standard me tech grad.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Your choice of mechanical engineering technology for getting your associate degree school matters. Important measures of a quality me tech program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:
