2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials 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 Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Materials Engineering is the 150th most popular major in the country with 3,485 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, materials engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $63,129 and had an average of $23,918 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 213 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $62,200 and $19,750 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 106 materials engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in materials engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great materials engineering programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the materials engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Materials Engineering Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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 Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$1,866 Average Net Price

$73,635 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 14 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern University is $1,866 for illinois bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Northwestern Materials Engineering Report

#2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$5,477 Average Net Price

$68,499 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 Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 87 bachelors’s materials engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $5,477 for illinois bachelor’s degree materials engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

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

#3

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$17,222 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech also took the #3 spot in our “Best Materials Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois Institute of Technology is $17,222 for illinois bachelor’s degree materials 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. 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%. 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 Materials Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Materials 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 Panoramedia.

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