Quick answer: No college within 100 miles of Great Falls, Montana awards a mechanical engineering degree - the nearest campus is about 119 miles away (IPEDS Completions, 2024). Online programs that enroll Montana students are the realistic route, and they are what the comparison below covers.
| Distance from Great Falls | Colleges awarding this degree |
|---|---|
| Within 25 miles | 0 |
| Within 50 miles | 0 |
| Within 100 miles | 0 |
| Within 250 miles | 2 |
Source: IPEDS Completions, 2024, counting institutions that reported awarding this degree, joined to IPEDS institution coordinates. Distances are straight-line.
No college within 100 miles of Great Falls awards this degree - the nearest campus is roughly 119 miles away. From Great Falls this is an online degree in practice, which is how most working adults take it anyway, and the comparison widget above covers programs that enroll Montana students online.
The subject matter does not change by location: thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, machine design, heat transfer, and dynamics and controls. What changes is how you take it. Ask each college whether the program holds accreditation from the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, how much of the coursework is delivered online, and which components require you on campus. Credit transfer is decided by the receiving institution and genuinely varies, so request a written transfer evaluation before you enroll.
This page lists 2 schools within 127 miles, closest group first, then ordered by BOC Score with the highest at the top. 2 of them carry a score.
Scores come from IPEDS (2024) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard. Earnings are for all graduates of a school, not one program, so treat them as a signal about the institution rather than about this subject. Sponsored listings are paid placements and are labelled as such; they are separate from this ranking and never change it. Read the full methodology.
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Source: ACCSC IPEDS College Scorecard
Mechanical Engineers in Montana earn a median $94,190 per year against $104,110 nationally (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The Montana median for mechanical engineers is $94,190 per year, below the national median of $104,110, on state employment of 500 (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
These are statewide figures. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish wages at city level, so no page can tell you what this job pays in Great Falls specifically. For the metro-level picture where it is published, and the full percentile spread, see the Montana page.
Helena * Butte * Missoula * Kalispell
About this guide: Researched and written by the TradeCareerPath Editorial Team. Our editorial team researches and sources every trade school and career guide using federal labor and education data, including BLS OEWS and Employment Projections, DOL apprenticeship records, IPEDS, College Scorecard, and state licensing boards. We follow the editorial standards documented at /editorial-policy/.
