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2022 Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

6 Ranked Colleges
40 Degrees Awarded
$33,900 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Geology Schools for a Master's in Illinois

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.

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” ranking looked at 6 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in geological and earth sciences. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great geological and earth sciences programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the geological and earth sciences 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 Geological & Earth Sciences Schools

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 Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois.

Top 6 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Geological & Earth Sciences in Illinois

#1

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. This large school is located in Normal, Illinois, and it awarded 11 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree geology students list, Illinois State has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois State University are $11,069, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at Illinois State

#3 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 3 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree geology students list, UIUC has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIUC are $30,083, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 8 masters’s geology degrees to qualified students.

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 SIUC are $32,928, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full SIUC Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#4

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #4 spot on the list. NIU is a fairly large public school situated in Dekalb, Illinois. It awarded 9 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree geology students list, NIU has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Geological & Earth Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at NIU are $11,086, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Geological & Earth Sciences at Northern Illinois University

#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #5 spot on the list. Northwestern University is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 6 masters’s geology degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also took the #1 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 Northwestern University are $56,567.

Full Northwestern University Geological & Earth Sciences Report

#6

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

University of Chicago ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Geology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. UChicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 masters’s geology degrees to qualified students.

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 University of Chicago are $61,548, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Geological & Earth Sciences at University of Chicago

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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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