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2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

8 Ranked Colleges
554 Degrees Awarded
$11,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

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 EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Electrical Engineering is the 26th most popular major in the country with 29,892 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across Illinois, there were 1,079 electrical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 554 electrical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in electrical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality electrical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. 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 EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Electrical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Northwestern is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 10 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern University is $1,866 for illinois bachelor’s degree ee students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at Northwestern University

#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 221 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $5,477 for illinois bachelor’s degree ee students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UIUC.

The low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at UIUC

#7 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the #3 spot on the list. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a fairly large public school situated in Edwardsville, Illinois. It awarded 38 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUE also made our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #7. The yearly cost to attend SIUE is $8,055 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 105 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree ee students whose families make $0-$30k list, UIC has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $10,648 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Illinois at Chicago.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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 University of Illinois at Chicago Electrical Engineering Report

#5

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #5 spot on the list. NIU is a fairly large school located in Dekalb, Illinois that handed out 90 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU also took the #6 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northern Illinois University is $15,281 for illinois bachelor’s degree ee students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at NIU

#8 in overall quality

Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well in the 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #6. SIUC is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 32 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree ee students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUC has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Southern Illinois University Carbondale is $13,658 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#7

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Bradley University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. This medium-sized school is located in Peoria, Illinois, and it awarded 21 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bradley, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $17,205 for illinois bachelor’s degree ee students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Bradley.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at Bradley University

#5 in overall quality

Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 37 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s EE students in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech also took the #5 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $17,222 for illinois bachelor’s degree ee students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Illinois Institute of Technology.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

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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 NASA.

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