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2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

11 Ranked Colleges
6,518 Degrees Awarded
$19,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

With 200,458 degrees handed out in 2019-2020, engineering is the 6th most popular major in the United States. In 2017-2018, engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $64,888 and had an average of $23,564 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 6,518 engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,008 and $25,246 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 11 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent engineering programs, but they also cost less that 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 engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

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 Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois engineering students with aid.

Top 11 Best Value Colleges for Engineering in Illinois (With Aid)

Out of the 11 schools in the Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 2,577 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIUC, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $15,880 for illinois engineering students with aid.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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 full report on Engineering at UIUC

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 Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 915 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #7. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $13,312 for Illinois Engineering students with aid.

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%.

Full University of Illinois at Chicago Engineering Report

#3

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. NIU is located in Dekalb, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 328 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.

NIU also made our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #8. The yearly cost to attend NIU is $18,259 for illinois engineering students with aid.

Read full report on Engineering at NIU

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Edwardsville, Illinois, this fairly large public school handed out 261 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

SIUE did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is $14,423 for illinois engineering students with aid.

Read more about Engineering at SIUE

#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Evanston, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 804 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $24,664 for illinois engineering students with aid per year to attend Northwestern University.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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%. 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.

Full Northwestern Engineering Report

With a ranking of #6, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. SIUC is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 198 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #10 spot in our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SIUC is $16,945 for Illinois Engineering students with aid.

Read full report on Engineering at SIUC

#7

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

With a ranking of #7, Western Illinois University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 24 students in 2019-2020.

WIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #11 on our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend WIU is $16,210 for Illinois Engineering students with aid.

Read full report on Engineering at WIU

#8

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Olivet Nazarene University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #8. Olivet Nazarene University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Bourbonnais, Illinois. It awarded 79 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene University is $20,195 for Illinois Engineering students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Olivet Nazarene Engineering Report

#9

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

Bradley University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Peoria, Illinois. It awarded 193 ’s engineering degrees in 2019-2020.

Bradley also made our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #4. The yearly cost to attend Bradley University is $25,634 for illinois engineering students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national 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.

Read more about Engineering at Bradley

#10

Wheaton College Illinois

Wheaton, Illinois

Wheaton College Illinois landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Wheaton College Illinois is a private not-for-profit institution located in Wheaton, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 7 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois engineering students with aid list, Wheaton College Illinois has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $25,358 for illinois engineering students with aid per year to attend Wheaton College Illinois.

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 student loan default rate at the school is 0.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Wheaton College Illinois Engineering Report

Illinois Institute of Technology did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #11. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 662 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois Tech is $22,831 for illinois engineering students with aid.

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%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. 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 Engineering at Illinois Tech

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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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