2025 Best Chemical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Chemical Engineering is of the hottest doctor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #28 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Chemical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 73 doctor's degrees in chemical engineering during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Doctor’s Degree Schools List

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their doctor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their doctor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on chemical engineering students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of chemical engineering students who choose to seek a doctor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for chemical engineering to pay back their student loans after receiving their doctor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized chemical engineering related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for chemical engineering students working on their doctor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Chemical Engineering Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Chemical Engineering Doctor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

Best Schools for Doctorate Students to Study Chemical Engineering in Illinois

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for chemical engineering students seeking a a doctor's degree.

Top Illinois Schools for a Doctorate in Chem Eng

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

21 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in chemical engineering. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.More information about a doctorate in chemical engineering from Northwestern University

2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

22 Annual Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a doctor's degree in chemical engineering. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a doctorate in chemical engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Best Chemical Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	149	38
Ohio	144	53
Indiana	132	19
Wisconsin	108	20

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Chem Eng

Chemical Engineering is one of 41 different types of Engineering programs to choose from.

Chem Eng Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Chemical Engineering	50
Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering	23

Majors Similar to Chem Eng

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Electrical Engineering	96
Mechanical Engineering	89
Materials Engineering	68
Biomedical Engineering	50
Civil Engineering	46
Industrial Engineering	20
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering	12
Nuclear Engineering	9
Engineering Mechanics	6
Agricultural Engineering	4

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Mikulova. More about our data sources and methodologies.