2025 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois
9
Colleges in Illinois
1,248
ME Degrees Awarded
$76,023
Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #21 in popularity,
mechanical engineering is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 9 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for degree seekers in the field of mechanical engineering. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,248 degrees in mechanical engineering annually.
What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Mechanical Engineering School
Your choice of mechanical engineering school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for mechanical engineering schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.
Mechanical Engineering Rankings by Degree Level
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 Best Mechanical Engineering Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.
If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.
In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat.
Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.
Best Schools for Mechanical Engineering in Illinois
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the me degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Illinois Schools in ME
Northwestern University is a great decision for students interested in a degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were about 125 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the me program earn an average of $77,020 for their early career.
More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a wonderful decision for students pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.
There were approximately 370 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the mechanical engineering program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign get $7,677 more than the standard college graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.
More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
It is hard to beat University of Illinois at Chicago if you want to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #254 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means UIC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 208 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program report average early career earnings of $69,871.
More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from University of Illinois at Chicago
Illinois Institute of Technology is a good choice for students pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering. Illinois Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago. This school ranks 23rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 133 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Illinois Tech in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the me program make an average of $69,838 in their early career salary.
More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology
Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Peoria. A Best Colleges rank of #519 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Bradley is a great university overall.
There were about 62 mechanical engineering students who graduated with this degree at Bradley in the most recent year we have data available. Students who graduate with their degree from the me program state that they receive average early career wages of $71,746.
More information about a degree in mechanical engineering from Bradley University