Which colleges are most affordable for Illinois residents ? The answer may surprise you.
These rankings of the most affordable colleges for Illinois residents are based on the estimated net price for a "typical" middle class family living in the state of Illinois.
Note: Net price is the actual cost of the school paid by the student and family, after factoring in merit and grant aid from the college federal programs and work study.The net prices displayed in these rankings are College Raptor's estimates.
“Typical” middle class family values used in the Net Price estimates on this page are:
| Rank | Institution | Typical Net Price | Sticker Price | % Savings | Undergraduates | Est. Median SAT | Acceptance Rate | Save |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cornell University | 10300 | 92000 | 0.8877 | 16,128 | 1521 | 0.0841 | |
| 1 | University of Wisconsin-River Falls | 10300 | 24000 | 0.5723 | 4,721 | 1110 | 0.7782 | |
| 3 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 11300 | 34400 | 0.6706 | 37,140 | 1442 | 0.4237 | |
| 4 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | 12200 | 26200 | 0.5342 | 21,947 | 1335 | 0.3122 | |
| 5 | Northern Illinois University | 12300 | 29000 | 0.5744 | 11,349 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 6 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 13700 | 32200 | 0.5744 | 39,083 | 1412 | 0.4517 | |
| 7 | Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville | 14500 | 41100 | 0.6478 | 8,975 | 1045 | 0.9721 | |
| 8 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 15400 | 28100 | 0.452 | 8,553 | 1054 | 0.8688 | |
| 9 | Kansas State University | 19000 | 31400 | 0.395 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8199 | |
| 10 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | 20100 | 38800 | 0.4817 | 36,588 | 1367 | 0.6535 | |
| 11 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 20200 | 36700 | 0.4491 | 14,576 | 1179 | 0.6967 | |
| 12 | North Dakota State University | 20900 | 25700 | 0.1868 | 9,762 | 1110 | 0.9496 | |
| 13 | South Dakota State University | 22000 | 25200 | 0.1271 | 10,728 | 1120 | 0.9834 | |
| 14 | University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | 24700 | 42300 | 0.4158 | 1,905 | 965 | 0.5754 | |
| 15 | Iowa State University | 26100 | 42800 | 0.3894 | 25,628 | 1207 | 0.8866 | |
| 16 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | 28900 | 31100 | 0.071 | 19,701 | 1214 | 0.8749 | |
| 17 | North Carolina A & T State University | 31800 | 36400 | 0.1262 | 12,216 | 1020 | 0.4617 | |
| 18 | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | 32600 | 38500 | 0.1533 | 7,890 | 1105 | 0.2056 | |
| 19 | North Carolina State University | 32800 | 54800 | 0.4017 | 28,422 | 1335 | 0.4167 | |
| 20 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 37400 | 62000 | 0.3968 | 31,035 | 1366 | 0.5499 | |
| 21 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus | 38600 | 44600 | 0.1345 | 22,351 | 1159 | 0.7504 | |
| 22 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 38800 | 52900 | 0.2664 | 30,564 | 1298 | 0.416 | |
| 23 | University of Georgia | 40300 | 46000 | 0.1242 | 31,514 | 1336 | 0.3719 | |
| 24 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | 42500 | 52100 | 0.1843 | 46,815 | 1339 | 0.6057 | |
| 25 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | 42600 | 55100 | 0.227 | 42,604 | 1336 | 0.6056 | |
| 26 | University of Maryland-College Park | 42700 | 52900 | 0.1928 | 31,133 | 1456 | 0.448 | |
| 27 | Purdue University-Main Campus | 43000 | 46200 | 0.0693 | 44,170 | 1327 | 0.4979 | |
| 28 | Oregon State University | 44900 | 61900 | 0.2748 | 31,253 | 1272 | 0.773 | |
| 29 | Michigan State University | 47200 | 56200 | 0.1601 | 41,234 | 1223 | 0.848 | |
| 30 | University of Kentucky | 51000 | 56000 | 0.0893 | 25,535 | 1193 | 0.9294 | |
| 31 | Texas A&M University-College Station | 52400 | 56100 | 0.0661 | 60,710 | 1278 | 0.5732 | |
| 32 | University of Minnesota Twin Cities | 53200 | 61000 | 0.1279 | 41,303 | 1338 | 0.7975 | |
| 33 | Clemson University | 61400 | 63700 | 0.0346 | 23,401 | 1343 | 0.3834 |
School data is from 2022–2023 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.
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