2026 Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in Illinois
[Systems Engineering](/majors/engineering/systems-engineering/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. A high-value program keeps cost low while graduates go on to earn well.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 2 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for systems engineering students.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Systems Engineering Schools in Illinois
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the systems engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.
Best Value Systems Engineering Schools
For return on investment in systems engineering, no school beat University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign this year. Located in the city of Champaign, University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign is a very large public university. Students from in state pay about $18,267 in tuition and fees, compared with $40,096 for out-of-state students. Systems Engineering graduates carry a median of $17,800 in student loans. Systems Engineering graduates of University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign earn a median of $81,785 early in their careers. Set against $17,800 in median debt, that is a healthy payoff. University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign admits about 42% of applicants.
More Systems Engineering Rankings
View All Systems Engineering Rankings >
Notes and References
This ranking is produced by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 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 1 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.
