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2022 Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $75-$110k) in Illinois

8 Ranked Colleges
155 Degrees Awarded
$20,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k

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 in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” 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.

This year’s “Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in geological and earth sciences. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality geological and earth sciences 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 geological and earth sciences program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Geological & Earth Sciences Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” 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 in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences (Income $75-$110k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 19 ’s geology degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern University is $16,784 for illinois geology students whose families make $75-$110k.

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. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at Northwestern University

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 14 degrees to qualified ’s geology students in 2019-2020.

UChicago also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $17,929 for Illinois Geology students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend University of Chicago.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at UChicago

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 12 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for Southern Illinois University Carbondale is $20,698 for illinois geology students whose families make $75-$110k.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at SIUC

#4

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Dekalb, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s geology degrees to 20 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NIU, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $21,425 for illinois geology students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend NIU.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at Northern Illinois University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 21 ’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $20,270 for illinois geology students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend UIC.

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 UIC Geological & Earth Sciences Report

With a ranking of #6, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s geology degrees to 22 students in 2019-2020.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $21,998 for illinois geology students whose families make $75-$110k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at UIUC

#7

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

Western Illinois University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k ranking. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s geology degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

WIU also made our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #8. The estimated yearly cost for WIU is $20,181 for illinois geology students whose families make $75-$110k.

Full Western Illinois University Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#8

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois

With a ranking of #8, Illinois State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Geology Schools in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Illinois State is a public institution located in Normal, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 25 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Illinois State, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $25,379 for Illinois Geology students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Illinois State University.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at Illinois State 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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