2023 Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges for Veterans in Illinois
8
Ranked Colleges
1,183
Degrees Awarded
$28,300
Avg Cost*
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, veterans have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME” ranking - to help you make that decision.
Mechanical Engineering is the 21st most popular major in the country with 46,178 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, mechanical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $69,007 and had an average of $23,944 in loans still to pay off.
Across Illinois, there were 1,183 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $71,610 and $22,426 respectively.
For this year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in mechanical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mechanical engineering programs as well as strong veteran support.
Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the mechanical engineering program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools
The me 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 “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME”.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME”.
Top 8 Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges for Veterans in Illinois
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 300 ’s ME degrees in 2020-2021.
UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Of the 52,679 students enrolled at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 10 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 0 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $0. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
[Read full report on veteran student life at UIUC]](/colleges/university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign/student-life/veterans/)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 222 ’s ME degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our illinois vets studying me list, UIC has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, University of Illinois at Chicago supports 33,518 students, and 1 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 1 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $23,878. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read More…
Out of the 8 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Edwardsville, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 72 diplomas to qualified ’s ME students in 2020-2021.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUE, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 3 of the 12,860 students enrolled at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville were GI Bill® students, of which 2 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $23,082. During this same period, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville offers credit for military training for eligible students.
[Read full report on veteran student life at SIUE]](/colleges/southern-illinois-university-edwardsville/student-life/veterans/)
Out of the 8 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #4 spot on the list. SIUC is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 61 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
SIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.According to our most recent data, Southern Illinois University Carbondale supports 11,366 students, and 1 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 0 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $0. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
Read More…
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois Institute of Technology. The school came in at #5 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 157 diplomas to qualified ’s ME students in 2020-2021.
Illinois Tech also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Our most recent data shows that 83 of the 6,325 students enrolled at Illinois Tech were GI Bill® students, of which 52 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $14,905. During this same period, 14 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Illinois Institute of Technology Veteran Student Life Report
With a ranking of #6, Northern Illinois University did quite well on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME list. Northern Illinois University is a fairly large school located in Dekalb, Illinois that handed out 135 ’s ME degrees in 2020-2021.
NIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.According to our most recent data, NIU supports 16,769 students, and 480 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 207 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $7,822. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.
Read More…
Northwestern University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME ranking. Northwestern University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 142 ’s ME degrees in 2020-2021.
Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Our most recent data shows that 1 of the 22,603 students enrolled at Northwestern University were GI Bill® students, of which 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $399. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Full Northwestern University Veteran Student Life Report
Bradley University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for ME ranking. Bradley University is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 83 ’s ME degrees to qualified students.
Bradley also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, Bradley supports 5,855 students, and 96 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 61 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $13,498. To help with additional expenses, 7 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Full Bradley University Veteran Student Life Report
Focus on a Specific Degree Level
Switch to a More General Major
Switch to a Similar Major
Switch to a More Focused Major
Switch to a Different Ranking Method
Notes and References
References
- 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 our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
- **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
Credits
college factual
