2022 Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

General Engineering Technology is the 155th most popular major in the country with 4,195 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, general engineering technology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $49,903 and had an average of $20,609 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 201 general engineering technology graduates with average earnings and debt of $55,450 and $21,633 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 160 general engineering technology graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in general engineering technology. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent general engineering technology programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the general engineering technology program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank General Engineering Technology Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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 Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree engineering tech students.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering Technology in Illinois

#1

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$20,895 Average Net Price

$61,728 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Illinois State University is a public institution located in Normal, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 33 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best General Engineering Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois State University is $20,895 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Tech students.

The low student loan default rate of 4.4% 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%.

Full Illinois State General Engineering Technology Report

#2

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$18,259 Average Net Price

$57,017 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. NIU is a fairly large public school situated in Dekalb, Illinois. It awarded 101 bachelors’s engineering tech degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Engineering Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend NIU is $18,259 for illinois bachelor’s degree engineering tech students.

Full Northern Illinois University General Engineering Technology Report

#3

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$16,210 Average Net Price

$52,107 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the #3 spot on the list. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s engineering tech degrees to 23 students in 2019-2020.

WIU also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Engineering Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $16,210 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Tech students per year to attend WIU.

Read more about General Engineering Technology at WIU

#4

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois

#5 in overall quality

$14,607 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Eastern Illinois University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. EIU is a medium-sized public school situated in Charleston, Illinois. It awarded 1 bachelors’s engineering tech degrees in 2019-2020.

EIU also made our “Best General Engineering Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for Eastern Illinois University is $14,607 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Tech students.

Full EIU General Engineering Technology Report

#5

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$16,945 Average Net Price

$57,318 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Engineering Tech Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s engineering tech degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

SIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best General Engineering Technology Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $16,945 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Engineering Tech students per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Full SIUC General Engineering Technology Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering Technology in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Engineering Technology

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).
• 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

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• 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

• Credit for the banner image above goes to KUKA Systems GmbH.

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