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

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 2,802 people earned their degree in general environmental engineering, making the major the 226th most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 69 general environmental engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in general environmental engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general environmental 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 general environmental engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank General Environmental Engineering Schools

The environmental engineering 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 Environmental Engineering 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. 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 Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for General Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$1,866 Average Net Price

$68,272 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 12 ’s environmental engineering degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern University is $1,866 for Illinois Environmental Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full Northwestern University General Environmental Engineering Report

#2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$5,477 Average Net Price

$49,122 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 32 ’s environmental engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best General Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend UIUC is $5,477 for illinois environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

Read full report on General Environmental Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#3

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$17,222 Average Net Price

$62,621 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s environmental engineering degrees to 13 students in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois Tech is $17,222 for Illinois Environmental Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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. 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%.

Full Illinois Institute of Technology General Environmental Engineering Report

• Best Value Colleges for General Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Colleges for General Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k)

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 U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alesia Goosic.

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