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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

6 Ranked Colleges
444 Degrees Awarded
$10,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

General Engineering is the 78th most popular major in the country with 11,925 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $66,152 and had an average of $20,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 444 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $64,650 and $24,821 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 6 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in general engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the general engineering program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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 Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

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

Top 6 Best Value Colleges for General Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 5 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best General Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern University is $1,866 for illinois 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Full Northwestern University General Engineering Report

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 20 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $5,477 for illinois engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UIUC.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign General Engineering Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 8 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for UIC is $10,648 for Illinois Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on General Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 5 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois engineering students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUC has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale is $13,658 for illinois engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about General Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#5

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the #5 spot on the list. Located in Macomb, Illinois, this medium-sized public school awarded 10 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

WIU also made our “Best General Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $13,942 for Illinois Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Western Illinois University.

Read more about General Engineering at WIU

#6

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

With a ranking of #6, Olivet Nazarene University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Olivet Nazarene University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 79 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $15,806 for illinois engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Olivet Nazarene.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on General Engineering at Olivet Nazarene

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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 Rémi Kaupp.

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