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 | Wellesley College | 7000 | 91300 | 0.9235 | 2,407 | 1500 | 0.1405 | |
| 2 | Amherst College | 7100 | 96100 | 0.9266 | 1,914 | 1514 | 0.0901 | |
| 3 | Brigham Young University | 8000 | 22700 | 0.6463 | 32,221 | 1374 | 0.6919 | |
| 4 | Trinity College | 8100 | 92800 | 0.913 | 2,237 | 1393 | 0.3352 | |
| 5 | Smith College | 8600 | 94500 | 0.9094 | 2,549 | 1477 | 0.21 | |
| 6 | Hamilton College | 8700 | 89000 | 0.9018 | 2,037 | 1499 | 0.1362 | |
| 6 | Pomona College | 8700 | 90000 | 0.9037 | 1,766 | 1520 | 0.0709 | |
| 8 | Washington and Lee University | 8900 | 96400 | 0.908 | 1,886 | 1488 | 0.1397 | |
| 9 | Haverford College | 9100 | 97600 | 0.9068 | 1,431 | 1499 | 0.1237 | |
| 10 | Lake Forest College | 9300 | 75400 | 0.8773 | 1,814 | 1323 | 0.5681 | |
| 10 | St Olaf College | 9300 | 75900 | 0.8775 | 3,124 | 1378 | 0.4832 | |
| 10 | University of Pennsylvania | 9300 | 93000 | 0.8996 | 10,013 | 1528 | 0.054 | |
| 13 | Grinnell College | 9400 | 91400 | 0.8973 | 1,788 | 1462 | 0.1451 | |
| 14 | Davidson College | 9800 | 89900 | 0.891 | 1,869 | 1454 | 0.1337 | |
| 15 | Colgate University | 10000 | 91600 | 0.8904 | 3,193 | 1488 | 0.1388 | |
| 16 | Columbia University in the City of New York | 10200 | 94400 | 0.892 | 9,157 | 1535 | 0.0386 | |
| 16 | Swarthmore College | 10200 | 89200 | 0.886 | 1,623 | 1520 | 0.0746 | |
| 18 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 10600 | 35900 | 0.7042 | 40,754 | 1391 | 0.3915 | |
| 19 | Pitzer College | 10800 | 94100 | 0.8854 | 1,242 | 1279 | 0.2516 | |
| 20 | Bates College | 11200 | 91900 | 0.8779 | 1,760 | 1438 | 0.1332 | |
| 21 | Vassar College | 11500 | 92300 | 0.8755 | 2,462 | 1499 | 0.1857 | |
| 22 | Northern Illinois University | 11700 | 29000 | 0.5964 | 11,349 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 23 | Northeastern State University | 11800 | 22900 | 0.4839 | 5,085 | 1035 | 0.9935 | |
| 24 | University of California-Irvine | 11900 | 43300 | 0.7257 | 30,204 | 1333 | 0.2878 | |
| 25 | Lafayette College | 12000 | 85800 | 0.8606 | 2,775 | 1427 | 0.3145 | |
| 26 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 12100 | 46900 | 0.7415 | 37,140 | 1442 | 0.4237 | |
| 27 | Middlebury College | 12300 | 89800 | 0.8629 | 2,760 | 1499 | 0.1075 | |
| 28 | Bowdoin College | 12400 | 89900 | 0.8623 | 1,881 | 1505 | 0.0713 | |
| 29 | Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville | 12600 | 41100 | 0.6941 | 8,975 | 1045 | 0.9721 | |
| 30 | University of North Alabama | 13200 | 31300 | 0.5774 | 8,078 | 1124 | 0.7054 | |
| 31 | Duke University | 13500 | 93600 | 0.856 | 6,523 | 1539 | 0.0571 | |
| 32 | University of California-Riverside | 13600 | 36500 | 0.627 | 22,599 | 1199 | 0.7685 | |
| 32 | University of Delaware | 13600 | 34500 | 0.605 | 19,119 | 1303 | 0.6356 | |
| 34 | Kansas State University | 13700 | 26100 | 0.4753 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8199 | |
| 35 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 14300 | 28100 | 0.4911 | 8,553 | 1054 | 0.8688 | |
| 36 | New York University | 14600 | 91800 | 0.8407 | 29,060 | 1520 | 0.0923 | |
| 37 | Stanford University | 14700 | 71100 | 0.793 | 7,904 | 1535 | 0.0361 | |
| 38 | University of Central Missouri | 14900 | 25400 | 0.4125 | 7,584 | 1055 | 0.638 | |
| 39 | University of North Georgia | 15200 | 48000 | 0.6833 | 18,329 | 1100 | 0.6794 | |
| 40 | Albion College | 15500 | 93700 | 0.8346 | 1,308 | 1065 | 0.807 | |
| 41 | Trinity University | 15700 | 65800 | 0.761 | 2,518 | 1402 | 0.2592 | |
| 42 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 15800 | 22400 | 0.2942 | 4,214 | 1090 | 0.8949 | |
| 42 | University of North Florida | 15800 | 34200 | 0.5382 | 13,735 | 1150 | 0.5324 | |
| 44 | Carleton College | 16000 | 74000 | 0.7839 | 2,128 | 1492 | 0.2041 | |
| 45 | Northeastern University | 16100 | 89900 | 0.8209 | 22,695 | 1490 | 0.0522 | |
| 46 | Denison University | 17200 | 69300 | 0.7512 | 2,406 | 1383 | 0.1693 | |
| 46 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 17200 | 27000 | 0.3636 | 18,428 | 1090 | 0.9529 | |
| 48 | Barnard College | 17600 | 106000 | 0.8343 | 3,269 | 1490 | 0.0796 | |
| 49 | Canisius University | 17700 | 64800 | 0.7274 | 1,724 | 1129 | 0.7224 | |
| 50 | Macalester College | 17800 | 89900 | 0.8016 | 2,144 | 1417 | 0.2852 | |
| 51 | University of California-Berkeley | 17900 | 43400 | 0.5874 | 33,469 | 1407 | 0.1104 | |
| 52 | Union College | 18200 | 92400 | 0.8029 | 2,065 | 1393 | 0.4392 | |
| 53 | Lee University | 18500 | 37400 | 0.5057 | 3,271 | 1154 | 0.7052 | |
| 53 | University of Rochester | 18500 | 93100 | 0.8015 | 6,580 | 1469 | 0.4008 | |
| 55 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 18800 | 30900 | 0.3927 | 38,093 | 1302 | 0.7821 | |
| 56 | University of Nevada-Reno | 19200 | 27600 | 0.3039 | 18,895 | 1134 | 0.7371 | |
| 57 | College of Coastal Georgia | 19500 | 42400 | 0.5396 | 3,468 | 985 | 0.9813 | |
| 58 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 19700 | 82300 | 0.7607 | 3,135 | 1299 | 0.5493 | |
| 59 | Niagara University | 19900 | 62900 | 0.6831 | 2,692 | 970 | 0.3972 | |
| 60 | Georgia College & State University | 20200 | 52400 | 0.6144 | 6,006 | 1155 | 0.8779 | |
| 61 | Luther College | 21500 | 71900 | 0.7011 | 1,384 | 1226 | 0.8402 | |
| 62 | Pennsylvania Western University | 21600 | 28100 | 0.2316 | 7,586 | 1070 | 0.9433 | |
| 62 | Whitman College | 21600 | 85500 | 0.7477 | 1,561 | 1399 | 0.3815 | |
| 64 | Cottey College | 21800 | 37300 | 0.4159 | 261 | 1090 | 0.7023 | |
| 65 | Creighton University | 22200 | 86200 | 0.7427 | 4,647 | 1328 | 0.7975 | |
| 65 | Sterling College | 22200 | 64300 | 0.6547 | 670 | 1090 | 0.8916 | |
| 67 | Loyola University New Orleans | 22600 | 72100 | 0.6863 | 3,032 | 1145 | 0.9305 | |
| 68 | Murray State University | 23000 | 27600 | 0.166 | 8,281 | 1124 | 0.8568 | |
| 69 | Regis University | 23600 | 67200 | 0.6484 | 2,704 | 1199 | 0.8639 | |
| 70 | Wilson College | 24300 | 43300 | 0.4385 | 1,180 | 1040 | 0.9532 | |
| 71 | Scripps College | 25200 | 94900 | 0.7348 | 1,117 | 1475 | 0.3829 | |
| 72 | Occidental College | 25300 | 89200 | 0.7167 | 1,881 | 1447 | 0.4417 | |
| 73 | University of Kansas | 25900 | 37600 | 0.3128 | 22,085 | 1176 | 0.9348 | |
| 74 | Westminster University | 26000 | 81400 | 0.6807 | 842 | 1233 | 0.6657 | |
| 75 | Earlham College | 26500 | 75800 | 0.6509 | 696 | 1233 | 0.7311 | |
| 76 | St. Francis College | 26800 | 39400 | 0.3202 | 1,934 | 1035 | 0.8153 | |
| 77 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 27200 | 40300 | 0.3249 | 20,418 | 1375 | 0.5808 | |
| 78 | Agnes Scott College | 27500 | 69200 | 0.6024 | 843 | 1273 | 0.6215 | |
| 79 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27800 | 61400 | 0.5466 | 1,833 | 1164 | 0.7381 | |
| 80 | Knox College | 28600 | 68900 | 0.5846 | 1,136 | 1287 | 0.7079 | |
| 81 | Gannon University | 30400 | 45300 | 0.329 | 2,768 | 1174 | 0.7416 | |
| 82 | The College of Wooster | 30900 | 82400 | 0.6257 | 1,738 | 1344 | 0.5953 | |
| 83 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 31200 | 44000 | 0.2911 | 20,592 | 1435 | 0.1407 | |
| 84 | Southern Nazarene University | 32200 | 48400 | 0.334 | 1,465 | 1055 | 0.7703 | |
| 85 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 32500 | 39500 | 0.1772 | 30,564 | 1298 | 0.416 | |
| 86 | University of Oregon | 33200 | 38600 | 0.1391 | 20,622 | 1250 | 0.883 | |
| 87 | LeTourneau University | 34100 | 54800 | 0.378 | 3,184 | 1178 | 0.3801 | |
| 88 | Pace University | 34500 | 100800 | 0.6575 | 8,038 | 1274 | 0.7592 | |
| 89 | Baldwin Wallace University | 35700 | 66700 | 0.4649 | 2,862 | 1194 | 0.757 | |
| 90 | Western Kentucky University | 36600 | 42300 | 0.1347 | 14,151 | 1090 | 0.9387 | |
| 91 | New York Institute of Technology | 39100 | 78600 | 0.5023 | 3,355 | 1235 | 0.7808 | |
| 92 | Drexel University | 39600 | 83800 | 0.5277 | 13,169 | 1339 | 0.7944 | |
| 93 | Oglethorpe University | 42000 | 68600 | 0.3876 | 1,361 | 1216 | 0.886 | |
| 94 | Montclair State University | 42100 | 46200 | 0.0888 | 18,712 | 1058 | 0.8789 | |
| 95 | Sacred Heart University | 42800 | 67500 | 0.3662 | 6,960 | 1245 | 0.6768 | |
| 96 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43700 | 68800 | 0.3647 | 3,677 | 1224 | 0.577 | |
| 97 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 48700 | 94900 | 0.4867 | 7,283 | 1451 | 0.1398 | |
| 98 | University of California-Merced | 48800 | 88800 | 0.4505 | 8,372 | 1070 | 0.9152 | |
| 99 | University of Utah | 51600 | 53700 | 0.0386 | 28,064 | 1237 | 0.8598 | |
| 100 | University of California-Davis | 71000 | 89800 | 0.2093 | 32,273 | 1290 | 0.4183 |
School data is from 2022–2023 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.
Join thousands of students and parents learning about finding the right college, admissions secrets, scholarships, financial aid, and more.