2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in Illinois (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Mechanical Engineering is the 20th most popular major in the country with 47,598 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, mechanical engineering graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $64,495 and had an average of $23,104 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 1,232 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $62,288 and $21,821 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 90 mechanical engineering graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,900 and $148,219 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in mechanical engineering. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent mechanical 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 mechanical engineering program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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 ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois doctor’s degree me students with aid.

Top 4 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in Illinois (With Aid)

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$30,083 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Located in Champaign, Illinois, this large public school handed out 51 degrees to qualified doctorate’s ME students in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full UIUC Mechanical Engineering Report

#2

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$27,036 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. UIC is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 15 doctorate’s ME degrees to qualified students.

UIC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIC are $27,036, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago

#3

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$56,567 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #3 spot on the list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 21 doctorate’s ME degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern

#4

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$30,695 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value ME Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #4 spot on the list. Illinois Institute of Technology is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 3 doctorate’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois Tech are $30,695.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in the Great Lakes Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Mechanical Engineering (With Aid)

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 Michel Villeneuve.

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