by our College Data Analytics Team
When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2020-2021, 11,796 people earned their degree in general engineering, making the major the 79th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, general engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $68,873 and had an average of $20,557 in loans still to pay off.
Across Illinois, there were 427 general engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $69,796 and $27,000 respectively.
For this year’s “Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 45 colleges that offer a degree in general engineering. To top this list, a school must have a successful general engineering program that graduates more students in the field than other colleges that offer the same major.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois”.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Olivet Nazarene University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. This small school is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, and it awarded 48 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend William Rainey Harper College. The school came in at #2 for the Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois. William Rainey Harper College is a public institution located in Palatine, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 35 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about General Engineering at William Rainey Harper College
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend College of DuPage. The school came in at #3 for the Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois. COD is a large public school situated in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. It awarded 31 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Parkland College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Parkland College is a medium-sized public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 29 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Rock Valley College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Rock Valley College is a medium-sized school located in Rockford, Illinois that handed out 28 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 27 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Full City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College General Engineering Report
Oakton Community College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. Oakton Community College is a medium-sized public school situated in Des Plaines, Illinois. It awarded 24 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
College of Lake County landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. College of Lake County is located in Grayslake, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 18 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
Read more about General Engineering at College of Lake County
Elgin Community College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. Located in Elgin, Illinois, this medium-sized public school handed out 16 degrees to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #10, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 14 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read more about General Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Illinois Central College landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. ICC is a public institution located in East Peoria, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 13 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Moraine Valley Community College did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #12. Moraine Valley Community College is a public institution located in Palos Hills, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 12 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Read full report on General Engineering at Moraine Valley Community College
McHenry County College ranked #12 on this year’s Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. McHenry County College is a medium-sized public school situated in Crystal Lake, Illinois. It awarded 12 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #14, Western Illinois University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Western Illinois University is a medium-sized school located in Macomb, Illinois that handed out 10 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about General Engineering at Western Illinois University
Waubonsee Community College did quite well in the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #14. Waubonsee is a medium-sized public school situated in Sugar Grove, Illinois. It awarded 10 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
University of Illinois at Chicago ranked #16 on this year’s Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large public school awarded 9 diplomas to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.5% 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%.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale ranked #17 on this year’s Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. SIUC is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 7 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
Read full report on General Engineering at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Southwestern Illinois College landed the #17 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. SWIC is a medium-sized school located in Belleville, Illinois that handed out 7 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Read full report on General Engineering at Southwestern Illinois College
With a ranking of #17, Rend Lake College did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Rend Lake College is located in Ina, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 7 ’s engineering degrees to qualified students.
Read full report on General Engineering at Rend Lake College
Lewis and Clark Community College ranked #20 on this year’s Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Lewis and Clark Community College is a public institution located in Godfrey, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Full Lewis and Clark Community College General Engineering Report
Northwestern University landed the #20 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 6 students in 2020-2021.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate 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.
Illinois Valley Community College ranked #20 on this year’s Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Located in Oglesby, Illinois, this small public school handed out 6 degrees to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
Kishwaukee College landed the #20 spot on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. This small school is located in Malta, Illinois, and it awarded 6 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #24, Kaskaskia College did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Kaskaskia College is a small public school situated in Centralia, Illinois. It awarded 5 ’s engineering degrees in 2020-2021.
Lake Land College came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. Mattoon, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s engineering degrees to 5 students in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #24, Greenville University did quite well on the 2023 Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois list. Located in Greenville, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 5 degrees to qualified ’s engineering students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 4.9% 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%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about General Engineering at Greenville University
Lincoln Land Community College came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Engineering Major in Illinois ranking. LLCC is a public institution located in Springfield, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 5 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
