2026 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois
[Environmental Engineering](/majors/engineering/environmental-engineering/) programs reward a close look at where your money goes furthest. The schools below stand out for delivering a strong environmental engineering education at a price that pays off.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 5 schools on the balance of cost and outcomes for environmental engineering students.
What’s on this page:
2026 Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools in Illinois
If you want to know which schools deliver the best value for the environmental engineering degrees they offer, see the list below.
Best Value Environmental Engineering Schools
University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign tops our 2026 list of the best value environmental engineering schools in Illinois. Set in the city of Champaign, University Of Illinois At Urbana Champaign is a very large public institution. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $18,267, while out-of-state students pay about $40,096. Environmental Engineering graduates carry a median of $20,778 in student loans. Early-career environmental engineering graduates make about $57,461. That is a strong return on a $20,778 median debt. Roughly 42% of applicants are accepted.
The strong cost-to-outcome balance at Northwestern University earned it the #2 place for environmental engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern University is a very large private not-for-profit university. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $68,322. Students borrow a median of $16,616 to complete the environmental engineering program here. Environmental Engineering graduates of Northwestern University earn a median of $78,551 early in their careers. That is a strong return on a $16,616 median debt. Roughly 8% of applicants are accepted.
Notes and References
This ranking is produced by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on the balance of cost (tuition and student debt) against student outcomes (post-graduation earnings) — a measure of return on investment, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 5 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 3 ranked schools only.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
