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2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

9 Ranked Colleges
861 Degrees Awarded
$11,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Mechanical Engineering is the 20th most popular major in the country with 47,598 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, mechanical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $64,495 and had an average of $23,104 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 1,232 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $62,288 and $21,821 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 861 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 9 colleges that offer a degree in mechanical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mechanical 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 mechanical engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Mechanical 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 ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value ME 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 me students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 9 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s ME degrees to 67 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k list, Northwestern has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern University is $1,866 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern

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 ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s ME degrees to 179 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIUC, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $5,477 for illinois bachelor’s degree me 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 low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at UIUC

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. SIUE is a fairly large public school situated in Edwardsville, Illinois. It awarded 82 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUE did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $8,055 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at SIUE

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Illinois at Chicago is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 173 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $10,648 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree ME 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 more about Mechanical Engineering at UIC

#5

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #5 spot on the list. Northern Illinois University is a public institution located in Dekalb, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 123 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Illinois University is $15,281 for illinois bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Northern Illinois University

Southern Illinois University Carbondale came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 56 bachelors’s ME degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUC has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for SIUC is $13,658 for illinois bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#7

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

Bradley University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #7. Bradley is a medium-sized school located in Peoria, Illinois that handed out 73 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

Bradley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $17,205 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Bradley University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Bradley University Mechanical Engineering Report

#8

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois
#9 in overall quality

With a ranking of #8, Western Illinois University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Western Illinois University is a medium-sized public school situated in Macomb, Illinois. It awarded 14 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

WIU also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #9. The estimated yearly cost for Western Illinois University is $13,942 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree ME students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full WIU Mechanical Engineering Report

With a ranking of #9, Illinois Institute of Technology did quite well on the 2022 Best Value ME Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Illinois Institute of Technology is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 91 bachelors’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois Tech is $17,222 for illinois bachelor’s degree me students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 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 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

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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.

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