College Factual  by our College Data Analytics Team
       Unbiased Factual Guarantee

2024 Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois

8 Ranked Colleges
488 Degrees Awarded
$21,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. 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 Conservation Schools in Illinois” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 22,254 people earned their degree in natural resources conservation, making the major the 49th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, natural resources conservation graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $35,963 and had an average of $23,098 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 488 natural resources conservation graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,536 and $21,104 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 8 colleges that offer a degree in natural resources conservation. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great natural resources conservation programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the natural resources conservation program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Natural Resources Conservation Schools

Rankings by Degree Other Award Levels
Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Conservation Rankings Other Ranking Categories

The conservation 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 Conservation Schools in Illinois”.

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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois conservation students.

Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Natural Resources Conservation in Illinois

1

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 87 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend UIUC is $14,321 for illinois conservation students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Natural Resources Conservation 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 Springfield. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois. Springfield, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s conservation degrees to 27 students in 2020-2021.

UIS also made our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Springfield is $12,034 for illinois conservation students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Natural Resources Conservation at UIS

3

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 16 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

SIUC also made our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #7. It costs about $16,285 for Illinois Conservation students per year to attend SIUC.

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.

Read full report on Natural Resources Conservation at SIUC

4

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #4 spot on the list. NIU is a fairly large public school situated in Dekalb, Illinois. It awarded 31 ’s conservation degrees in 2020-2021.

NIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Northern Illinois University is $13,956 for Illinois Conservation students.

Full Northern Illinois University Natural Resources Conservation Report

5
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 29 degrees to qualified ’s conservation students in 2020-2021.

DePaul not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $31,174 for illinois conservation students per year to attend DePaul.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Natural Resources Conservation at DePaul University

6
Loyola Chicago crest
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Loyola University Chicago ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s conservation degrees to 66 students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois conservation students list, Loyola Chicago has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $36,434 for Illinois Conservation students per year to attend Loyola Chicago.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Natural Resources Conservation at Loyola Chicago

7
Augustana crest
Augustana College
Rock Island, Illinois

Augustana College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois list. Rock Island, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s conservation degrees to 20 students in 2020-2021.

Augustana did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Augustana is $23,489 for illinois conservation students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Natural Resources Conservation at Augustana

8
Lake Forest crest
Lake Forest College
Lake Forest, Illinois

Lake Forest College did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Conservation Schools in Illinois ranking, coming in at #8. Lake Forest College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Lake Forest, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 15 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois conservation students list, Lake Forest has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Natural Resources Conservation Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $23,991 for Illinois Conservation students per year to attend Lake Forest College.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.3% 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 Natural Resources Conservation at Lake Forest College

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

Credits

Popular Reports

College Rankings
Best by Location
Degree Guides by Major
Graduate Programs

Compare Your School Options