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2022 Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

9 Ranked Colleges
1,232 Degrees Awarded
$18,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 47,598 people earned their degree in mechanical engineering, making the major the 20th most popular in the United States. 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.

This year’s “Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking analyzed 9 colleges that offered a degree in mechanical engineering. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality mechanical engineering programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the mechanical engineering program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois me students with aid.

Top 9 Best Value Colleges for Mechanical Engineering in Illinois (With Aid)

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. UIUC is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 300 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $15,880 for illinois me students with aid per year to attend UIUC.

The low student loan default rate of 2.4% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 247 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $13,312 for Illinois ME students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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%.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at University of Illinois at Chicago

#3

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. NIU is a fairly large public school situated in Dekalb, Illinois. It awarded 141 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $18,259 for illinois me students with aid per year to attend NIU.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at NIU

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a fairly large public school situated in Edwardsville, Illinois. It awarded 86 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois me students with aid list, SIUE has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $14,423 for Illinois ME students with aid per year to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Out of the 9 schools in the Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #5 spot on the list. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 63 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $16,945 for illinois me students with aid per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at SIUC

#6

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Northwestern University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Northwestern University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 128 ’s ME degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern is $24,664 for illinois me students with aid.

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 low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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 school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern

#7

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

Western Illinois University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Located in Macomb, Illinois, this medium-sized public school handed out 14 diplomas to qualified ’s ME students in 2019-2020.

WIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend WIU is $16,210 for Illinois ME students with aid.

Read more about Mechanical Engineering at WIU

#8

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

Bradley University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Bradley is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 84 ’s ME degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bradley, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Bradley University is $25,634 for Illinois ME students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Bradley Mechanical Engineering Report

Illinois Institute of Technology came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value ME Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s ME degrees to 166 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois me students with aid list, Illinois Tech has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $22,831 for Illinois ME students with aid per year to attend Illinois Tech.

The low student loan default rate of 2.9% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read full report on Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology

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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.

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