2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $75-$110k) in Illinois

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Astronomy & Astrophysics is the 222nd most popular major in the country with 1,268 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, astronomy and astrophysics graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $27,700 and had an average of $21,346 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 62 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 44 astronomy and astrophysics graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in astronomy and astrophysics. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great astronomy and astrophysics programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the astronomy and astrophysics program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” list to help you make the college 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. 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.

Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $75-$110k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$17,929 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s astronomy degrees to 6 students in 2019-2020.

UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $17,929 for illinois bachelor’s degree astronomy students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend UChicago.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full UChicago Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

#2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$21,998 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 34 bachelors’s astronomy degrees to qualified students.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $21,998 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students whose families make $75-$110k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Astronomy & Astrophysics at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#3

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$24,888 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Astronomy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois Institute of Technology landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 4 degrees to qualified bachelors’s astronomy students in 2019-2020.

Illinois Tech also made our “Best Astronomy & Astrophysics Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend Illinois Institute of Technology is $24,888 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Astronomy students whose families make $75-$110k.

With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Illinois Institute of Technology Astronomy & Astrophysics Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $75-$110k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Astronomy & Astrophysics (Income $75-$110k)

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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