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

7 Ranked Colleges
40 Degrees Awarded
$32,900 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Geology Schools for a Master's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Geological & Earth Sciences is the 84th most popular major in the country with 8,918 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, geological and earth sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $35,533 and had an average of $23,531 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 155 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $32,700 and $21,833 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 40 geological and earth sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in geological and earth sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent geological and earth sciences 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 geological and earth sciences program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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 Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois master’s degree geology students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 7 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 6 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Northwestern Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 2 degrees to qualified masters’s geology students in 2019-2020.

UChicago also took the #2 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UChicago are $61,548, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at University of Chicago

#3 in overall quality

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 #3 for the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 3 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#5 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #4 spot on the list. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s geology degrees to 8 students in 2019-2020.

SIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Southern Illinois University Carbondale are $32,928, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at SIUC

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 1 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #0 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIC are $27,036, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at UIC

#6

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

Illinois State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #6. This large school is located in Normal, Illinois, and it awarded 11 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois State are $11,069, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full Illinois State University Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#7

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

Northern Illinois University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Dekalb, Illinois, this fairly large public school handed out 9 diplomas to qualified masters’s geology students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NIU, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Northern Illinois University are $11,086.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at Northern Illinois University

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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.

Credits

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Kelvinsong.

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