2027 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in Illinois
[Materials Engineering](/majors/engineering/materials-engineering/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong materials engineering education at a price that pays off.
For its 2027 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools to find the best return on investment for materials engineering students.
What’s on this page:
2027 Best Value Materials Engineering Schools in Illinois
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the materials engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.
Best Value Materials Engineering Schools
University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign earned the #1 spot for value among materials engineering schools in Illinois. Set in the city of Champaign, University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign is a very large public institution. In-state tuition and fees average $18,267, with out-of-state students paying around $40,096. Students borrow a median of $17,916 to complete the materials engineering program here. Materials Engineering graduates of University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign earn a median of $75,080 early in their careers. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. Roughly 42% of applicants are accepted.
Students looking for strong value in materials engineering will find it at Northwestern University, which ranked #2. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern University is a very large private not-for-profit university. In-state tuition and fees average $68,322. Students borrow a median of $16,616 to complete the materials engineering program here. Materials Engineering graduates of Northwestern University earn a median of $78,551 early in their careers. Set against $16,616 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff. Roughly 8% of applicants are accepted.
More Materials Engineering Rankings
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Notes and References
The ranking above is published by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2027 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 2 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 2 ranked schools only.
- 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.
