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2024 Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois

4 Ranked Colleges
442 Degrees Awarded
$18,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 12,917 people earned their degree in chemical engineering, making the major the 70th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, chemical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $65,870 and had an average of $23,285 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 442 chemical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $67,203 and $21,409 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in chemical engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent chemical engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the chemical engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Chemical Engineering Schools

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The chem eng school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Chemical Engineering in Illinois

1

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2024 Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 181 ’s chem eng degrees in 2020-2021.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $14,321 for Illinois Chem Eng students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 93%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois. UIC is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 85 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UIC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $13,214 for illinois chem eng students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Illinois at Chicago Chemical Engineering Report

3

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois list. Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 73 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois chem eng students list, Illinois Tech has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Illinois Tech is $23,772 for Illinois Chem Eng students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Chemical Engineering at Illinois Tech

4
Northwestern crest
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #4 on our 2024 Best Value Chem Eng Schools in Illinois list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s chem eng degrees to 48 students in 2020-2021.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our “Best Chemical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern is $23,279 for Illinois Chem Eng students.

The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 99%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Northwestern University Chemical Engineering Report

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