2026 Best General Materials Engineering Schools in Illinois
General Materials Engineering is a field worth a close look when choosing where to study. While the number of schools offering the program varies, there are still top-quality ones to be found.
College Factual analyzed 4 schools to build this 2026 ranking of the best general materials engineering schools.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for General Materials Engineering in Illinois
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the general materials engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in General Materials Engineering
No school ranked higher than Northwestern University this year for general materials engineering. This very large private not-for-profit university is located in the city of Evanston. Northwestern University graduates 95% of students within six years. About 86 general materials engineering degrees were awarded at Northwestern University in the most recent year. General Materials Engineering graduates of Northwestern University earn a median of $78,551 early in their careers. Typical student debt for the program is $16,616.
See the full general materials engineering program report for Northwestern University
University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign is one of the finest schools in the country for a degree in general materials engineering, ranking #2. This very large public university is located in the city of Champaign. University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign graduates 85% of students within six years. About 113 general materials engineering degrees were awarded at University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign in the most recent year. General Materials Engineering graduates of University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign earn a median of $75,080 early in their careers. University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign graduates carry a median of $17,916 in student loans.
Read more about the general materials engineering program at University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign
More General Materials Engineering Rankings
View All General Materials Engineering Rankings >
Notes and References
This ranking is produced by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs graduation rate, post-graduation earnings, cost, and program quality, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 4 schools evaluated.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
