Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Electrical Engineering

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Colleges for Electrical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

8 Ranked Colleges
1,079 Degrees Awarded
$11,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 30,670 people earned their degree in electrical engineering, making the major the 31st most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, electrical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $70,098 and had an average of $23,581 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 1,079 electrical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,500 and $22,666 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in electrical engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great electrical engineering programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

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

One Size Does Not Fit All

The ee 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 EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

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

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

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s EE degrees to 41 students in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also made our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $1,866 for illinois ee students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Northwestern.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. 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.

Full Northwestern University Electrical Engineering Report

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 in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. UIUC is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 472 ’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $5,477 for Illinois EE students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at UIUC

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a fairly large public school situated in Edwardsville, Illinois. It awarded 58 ’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUE also took the #7 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $8,055 for illinois ee students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at SIUE

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 202 ’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois ee students whose families make $0-$30k list, UIC has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $10,648 for Illinois EE students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at UIC

#5

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Dekalb, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s EE degrees to 104 students in 2019-2020.

NIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend NIU is $15,281 for illinois ee students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at NIU

Southern Illinois University Carbondale came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, this fairly large public school handed out 63 degrees to qualified ’s EE students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois ee students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUC has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $13,658 for illinois ee students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend SIUC.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at SIUC

#7

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

Bradley University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Peoria, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s EE degrees to 23 students in 2019-2020.

Bradley also took the #3 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Bradley University is $17,205 for Illinois EE students whose families make $0-$30k.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Full Bradley Electrical Engineering Report

Illinois Institute of Technology ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. This medium-sized school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 116 ’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois Institute of Technology is $17,222 for illinois ee students whose families make $0-$30k.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

Switch to a Similar Major

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.

Featured Engineering Schools

Find Schools Near You