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2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

9 Colleges in Illinois
838 Bachelor's Degrees
$70,814 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #17 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 9 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 838 bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Mechanical Engineering Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois Your choice of mechanical engineering for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To account for this we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their bachelor's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their bachelor's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

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

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

More Ways to Rank Mechanical Engineering Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More ME Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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

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 Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Mechanical Engineering in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in ME

1
228 Annual Graduates
$80,187 Median Starting Salary
$48,993 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign.

Those mechanical engineering students who get their bachelor's degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $9,373 more than the typical me grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2

It's difficult to beat Northwestern University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the mechanical engineering degree program at Northwestern University get $4,439 above the standard college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University

3
168 Annual Graduates
$69,871 Median Starting Salary
$39,094 Median Student Debt

University of Illinois at Chicago is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the me program report average early career wages of $69,871.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago

4

Illinois Institute of Technology is a great choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Illinois Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the me program state that they receive average early career wages of $65,386.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology

5

Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

Soon after graduation, me bachelor's recipients generally earn around $71,746 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Bradley University

6
101 Annual Graduates
$68,069 Median Starting Salary
$24,036 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a large student population.

Soon after graduation, me bachelor's recipients generally make an average of $68,069 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Northern Illinois University

7
52 Annual Graduates
$66,546 Median Starting Salary
$29,894 Median Student Debt

SIUE is a large public university located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

After graduating, me bachelor's recipients usually make about $66,546 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

8

Located in the town of Carbondale, SIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Soon after graduating, me bachelor's recipients usually earn around $69,454 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Southern Illinois University Carbondale

9
17 Annual Graduates

Located in the town of Macomb, WIU is a public university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Western Illinois University

Best Mechanical Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 1,905
Ohio 252 1,701
Indiana 235 1,054
Wisconsin 213 759

View All Rankings >

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

ME Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
General Mechanical Engineering 838

Related Major Annual Graduates
Computer Engineering 626
Civil Engineering 449
Electrical Engineering 432
Chemical Engineering 276
Biomedical Engineering 258
Industrial Engineering 211
Aerospace & Aeronautical Engineering 165
Materials Engineering 111
Engineering Physics 107
Systems Engineering 86

Notes and References

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