2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering 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 ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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 doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 90 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,900 and $148,219 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great mechanical engineering programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the mechanical engineering program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

The me school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois.

Top 4 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$30,083 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 51 doctorate’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083.

Full UIUC Mechanical Engineering Report

#2

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$27,036 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 15 doctorate’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIC are $27,036, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at UIC

#3

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$56,567 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois. Located in Evanston, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 21 diplomas to qualified doctorate’s ME students in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern University are $56,567, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern

#3

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$30,695 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #3 spot on the list. Illinois Institute of Technology is a medium-sized school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 3 doctorate’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois Tech are $30,695, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Tech

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering

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 Michel Villeneuve.

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