2022 Best Value Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Environmental Engineering is the 166th most popular major in the country with 2,802 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, environmental engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,600 and had an average of $23,573 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 69 environmental engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in environmental engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent environmental engineering programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the environmental engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Environmental Engineering Schools

The environmental engineering school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k”.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 3 Best Value Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$1,866 Average Net Price

$68,272 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Northwestern University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 12 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our “Best Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $1,866 for illinois environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Northwestern University.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. 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. 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%.

Full Northwestern University Environmental Engineering Report

#2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$5,477 Average Net Price

$49,122 Average Early-Career Earnings

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 Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. UIUC is located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 32 ’s environmental engineering degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k list, UIUC has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $5,477 for illinois environmental engineering students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Environmental Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#3

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$17,222 Average Net Price

$62,621 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois Institute of Technology. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Illinois Tech is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 13 ’s environmental engineering degrees to qualified students.

Illinois Tech also took the #3 spot in our “Best Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $17,222 for Illinois Environmental Engineering students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Illinois Tech.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. 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 Environmental Engineering Report

• Best Value Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Colleges for Environmental Engineering (Income $0-$30k)

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 U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Alesia Goosic.

Featured Environment / Natural Resources Schools

Request Info

Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs ... Learn More >