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2022 Best Value Colleges for Electrical Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

8 Ranked Colleges
1,079 Degrees Awarded
$12,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking.

Electrical Engineering is the 31st most popular major in the country with 30,670 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, electrical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $70,098 and had an average of $23,581 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 1,079 electrical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $65,500 and $22,666 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 8 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in electrical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality electrical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the electrical engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” 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 EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 8 Best Value Colleges for Electrical Engineering (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s EE degrees to 41 students in 2019-2020.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern is $3,995 for illinois ee students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Northwestern University Electrical Engineering Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. UIUC is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 472 ’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $8,464 for Illinois EE students whose families make $30-$48k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The low student loan default rate of 2.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k. This fairly large school is located in Edwardsville, Illinois, and it awarded 58 ’s EE degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUE, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SIUE is $9,938 for Illinois EE students whose families make $30-$48k.

Full SIUE Electrical Engineering Report

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #4 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 202 ’s EE degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $11,185 for Illinois EE students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read more about Electrical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago

#5

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #5 spot on the list. Northern Illinois University is a public institution located in Dekalb, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 104 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU also took the #6 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Illinois University is $15,861 for Illinois EE students whose families make $30-$48k.

Full Northern Illinois University Electrical Engineering Report

With a ranking of #6, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on the 2022 Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, this fairly large public school handed out 63 degrees to qualified ’s EE students in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #8 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SIUC is $14,306 for Illinois EE students whose families make $30-$48k.

Full SIUC Electrical Engineering Report

#7

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

With a ranking of #7, Bradley University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Bradley University is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 23 ’s EE degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bradley, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Bradley University is $18,232 for Illinois EE students whose families make $30-$48k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Electrical Engineering at Bradley University

Illinois Institute of Technology did quite well in the 2022 Best Value EE Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #8. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s EE degrees to 116 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois ee students whose families make $30-$48k list, Illinois Tech has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Illinois Institute of Technology is $18,720 for illinois ee students whose families make $30-$48k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Illinois Tech Electrical Engineering Report

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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 NASA.

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