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2024 Best Engineering Schools in Illinois

11 Colleges in Illinois
6,309 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$68,398 Avg Early-Career Salary
A degree in engineering is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #7 out of 38 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual looked at 11 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Engineering Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 6,309 degrees in engineering during the 2021-2022 academic year.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Engineering School

Best Engineering Schools in Illinois The engineering program you select can have a big impact on your future. That's why we developed our collection of Best Schools for Engineering rankings. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Engineering Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Engineering
Bachelor's Degrees in Engineering
Master's Degrees in Engineering
Doctor's Degrees in Engineering

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Engineering Schools in Illinois list, to help you choose the best school for you. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. 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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Engineering in Illinois

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the engineering degree levels they offer.

10 Top Illinois Schools in Engineering

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
731 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$80,363 Median Starting Salary

Northwestern University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a degree in engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were approximately 731 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the engineering major at Northwestern University get $11,965 more than the typical graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in engineering from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
2,541 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$70,551 Median Starting Salary

Every student who is interested in engineering has to take a look at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 2541 engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the engineering major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $2,153 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
547 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$66,039 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in engineering needs to check out Illinois Institute of Technology. Illinois Tech is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago. This school ranks 9th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were approximately 547 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Illinois Tech in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, engineering degree recipients generally earn an average of $66,039 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
884 Engineering Degrees Awarded
0.8% Growth in Graduates

University of Illinois at Chicago is a great choice for students pursuing a degree in engineering. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #192 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIC is a great university overall.

There were roughly 884 engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent data year. Soon after graduating, engineering degree recipients generally make about $63,967 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
176 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$66,731 Median Starting Salary

Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Peoria. This university ranks 14th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were roughly 176 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Bradley in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the engineering program earn around $66,731 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in engineering from Bradley University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
194 Engineering Degrees Awarded
1.0% Growth in Graduates

SIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Carbondale. This university ranks 23rd out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were approximately 194 engineering students who graduated with this degree at SIUC in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, engineering degree recipients generally make an average of $60,494 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in engineering from Southern Illinois University Carbondale

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
255 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$70,812 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 24th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were about 255 engineering students who graduated with this degree at NIU in the most recent data year. Engineering degree recipients from Northern Illinois University earn a boost of approximately $2,413 over the typical income of engineering majors.

More information about a degree in engineering from Northern Illinois University

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
37 Engineering Degrees Awarded
$84,354 Median Starting Salary

Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #137 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Loyola Chicago is a great university overall.

There were roughly 37 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the engineering major at Loyola University Chicago make $15,956 above the average graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a degree in engineering from Loyola University Chicago

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
300 Engineering Degrees Awarded
0.3% Growth in Graduates

SIUE is a fairly large public university located in the large suburb of Edwardsville. This university ranks 31st out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were approximately 300 engineering students who graduated with this degree at SIUE in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the engineering program earn an average of $64,183 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in engineering from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

10
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
51 Engineering Degrees Awarded
5.9% Growth in Graduates

Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small suburb of Bourbonnais. This university ranks 33rd out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were approximately 51 engineering students who graduated with this degree at Olivet Nazarene in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the engineering program report average early career income of $61,282.

More information about a degree in engineering from Olivet Nazarene University

Best Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

StateCollegesDegrees Awarded
Indiana385,328
Michigan388,498
Ohio388,341
Wisconsin373,379

View All Rankings >

Engineering Majors to Study

MajorAnnual Graduates
Mechanical Engineering1,248
Electrical Engineering815
Civil Engineering707
Computer Engineering639
Chemical Engineering449
General Engineering435
Biomedical Engineering409
Industrial Engineering365
Materials Engineering214
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering196

View All Engineering Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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