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2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

8 Ranked Colleges
554 Degrees Awarded
$19,000 Avg Net Price*
Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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. 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” 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Electrical Engineering in Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 221 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $15,880 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full UIUC Electrical Engineering Report

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the #2 spot on the list. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is located in Edwardsville, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 38 bachelors’s EE degrees to qualified students.

SIUE not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $14,423 for illinois bachelor’s degree ee students per year to attend SIUE.

Full SIUE Electrical Engineering Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 105 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $13,312 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students.

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%.

Full UIC Electrical Engineering Report

#4

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Dekalb, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 90 degrees to qualified bachelors’s EE students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NIU, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Illinois University is $18,259 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at Northern Illinois University

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #5 spot on the list. SIUC is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 32 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree ee students 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 $16,945 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students.

Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale Electrical Engineering Report

#6

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

Bradley University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. Bradley is a private not-for-profit institution located in Peoria, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 21 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Bradley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $25,634 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students per year to attend Bradley University.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at Bradley University

Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 37 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Illinois Institute of Technology is $22,831 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree EE students.

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. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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 Electrical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

#8

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Northwestern University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value EE Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 10 bachelors’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern University is $24,664 for illinois bachelor’s degree ee students.

The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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 97%. 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.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at Northwestern University

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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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