2023 Best Value Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Electrical Engineering School for You
In 2020-2021, 1,029 degrees and certificates were awarded to electrical engineering students who went to a Illinois college or university. This makes it the #35 most popular major in the state.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 8 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value programs for EE students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality in Electrical Engineering
Our analysis found Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to be the best value school for electrical engineering students who want to pursue a degree in Illinois. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a fairly large student population.
SIUE undergraduate students pay an average of $11,496 in in-state tuition and fees each year. After completing their degree, EE graduates from SIUE carry an average student debtload of $26,000.
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A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great value for electrical engineering students. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIUC are $17,634 per year. While working on their degree, EE majors at UIUC accumulate an average of around $20,574 in student debt. When it comes time to repay the loan, graduates who are on a 10-year repayment plan pay an average monthly payment of $464.
UIUC also made our Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #3.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois list. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public school with a large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at NIU are $14,738 per year. While working on their degree, EE majors at NIU accumulate an average of around $25,270 in student debt.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIC are $15,603 per year. While working on their degree, EE majors at UIC accumulate an average of around $22,000 in student debt. Assuming that a graduate chooses a 10-year repayment plan, the average monthly loan payment is $227.
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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a great value for electrical engineering students. Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public college with a large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SIUC are $15,240 per year. While working on their degree, EE majors at SIUC accumulate an average of around $25,125 in student debt.
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Bradley University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois list. Bradley is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the midsize city of Peoria.
Bradley undergraduate students pay an average of $36,360 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that EE majors at Bradley take out is $26,860.
Bradley excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 15% of all schools on our Best Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois list.
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Northwestern University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northwestern are $60,768 a year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Northwestern is ranked #1 for overall quality for EE in Illinois.
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Illinois Institute of Technology ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Electrical Engineering Schools in Illinois list. Illinois Tech is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.
Illinois Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $50,375 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that EE majors at Illinois Tech take out is $22,725.
Request InformationBest Value Electrical Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
Explore all the Best Value Electrical Engineering Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 1,147 |
| Ohio | 1,153 |
| Indiana | 730 |
| Wisconsin | 465 |
More Electrical Engineering Rankings in Illinois
Majors Related to EE
Electrical Engineering is one of 40 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to EE
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Mechanical Engineering | 46,178 |
| Civil Engineering | 21,388 |
| Computer Engineering | 17,987 |
| Chemical Engineering | 12,917 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 12,811 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 8 schools only.
- 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 the rest 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to NASA.
More about our data sources and methodologies.