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Elgin Community College: Rankings, Admissions, Cost & Majors

313 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
15% Student Loan Default Rate

Elgin Community College is a public institution in Elgin, Illinois enrolling 6,648 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 41%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #855 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 17%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.

Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.

How Is Elgin Community College Ranked?

Elgin Community College ranks #855 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 17%.

#855 Best Colleges in Nation
#42 Best Colleges in IL
Elgin Community College ranking badge

2027 Rankings

In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.

Elgin Community College was awarded 313 badges in the 2027 rankings.

Overall Quality

College Factual ranked ECC as #855 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.

ECC is also ranked #42 on the Best Colleges in Illinois list.

See all of the rankings for Elgin Community College.

Is It Hard to Get Into Elgin Community College?

Acceptance Rate

Learn more about Elgin Community College admissions.

What Is the Student-to-Faculty Ratio at Elgin Community College?

21 to 1 Student to Faculty
30% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Elgin Community College is 21 to 1, which is high when compared to the national average of 15 to 1. This may indicate that some of your classes will be larger in size than they would be at other schools. However, upper level classes will probably be smaller.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

In addition to the student to faculty ratio, some people look at what percentage of faculty members are full-time as a sign of how much time professors will be able to spend with their students. This is because part-time teachers may not be on campus as much as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at Elgin Community College is 30%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  30 out of 100
0
100

What Are the Graduation and Retention Rates at Elgin Community College?

77% Freshmen Retention
41% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

The freshmen retention rate of 77% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Elgin Community College enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  77 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at ECC for first-time, full-time students is 41%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  41 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Elgin Community College.

How Diverse Is Elgin Community College?

6,648 Undergraduate Students
65.9% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
53.4% Percent Women

The current enrollment includes 6,648 undergraduates at ECC.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Elgin Community College.

How Much Does Elgin Community College Cost?

$17,140 Net Price
3% Take Out Loans
$17,984 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at ECC is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for ECC

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$5,089 $5,006 $6,816 $8,562 $9,083

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of ECC, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At ECC, approximately 3% of students took out student loans averaging $4,496 a year. That adds up to $17,984 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 15.1%. This is significantly higher than the national default rate of 10.1%, which means you could have trouble paying back your student loans if you take any out. Get more details about paying for Elgin Community College.

How Much Do Elgin Community College Graduates Earn?

$45,516 Avg Salary of Grads
Low Earnings Boost

Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Elgin Community College make around $45,516 per year during the early years of their employment. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more. Average Salary for Elgin Community College Graduates

See which majors at Elgin Community College make the most money.

Where Is Elgin Community College Located?

Illinois State
6,648 Undergraduate Students
Midsize City Campus Setting

Elgin Community College is an public institution located in Elgin, Illinois. Elgin is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of Elgin Community College.

Location of Elgin Community College

Contact details for Elgin Community College can be found below.

Contact Details
Address: 1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, IL 60123-7193
Phone: 8476971000
Website: www.elgin.edu

What Majors Does Elgin Community College Offer?

20 Majors With Completions
6,098 Undergraduate Degrees

In the most recent reporting year, students from 20 majors graduated from Elgin Community College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Completions Average Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies 3,049 NA
Liberal Arts General Studies 1,275 $26,806
Biological & Physical Science 187 $36,820
Vehicle Maintenance & Repair 179 $31,850
Allied Health Services 137 $44,532
Nursing & Nursing Assistants 131 NA
Heating, Ventilation, Air & Cooling 111 NA
Culinary Arts 96 NA
Fire Protection 86 NA
Ground Transportation 79 $40,454

Learn more about the majors offered at Elgin Community College along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Does ECC Offer Online Classes?

58% Take At Least One Class Online
19% Take All Classes Online

3,877 students took at least one online class at Elgin Community College.

Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.

Learn more about online learning at Elgin Community College.

Curious how schools stack up against ECC? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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