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 | Davidson College | 2800 | 95600 | 0.9704 | 1,869 | 1454 | 0.1337 | |
| 2 | Trinity College | 3900 | 92800 | 0.9583 | 2,204 | 1393 | 0.2925 | |
| 3 | Amherst College | 5800 | 96200 | 0.9402 | 1,914 | 1514 | 0.0901 | |
| 4 | Smith College | 5900 | 96800 | 0.9395 | 2,549 | 1477 | 0.21 | |
| 5 | Bates College | 6400 | 92900 | 0.9309 | 1,760 | 1469 | 0.1332 | |
| 5 | Swarthmore College | 6400 | 93800 | 0.9319 | 1,623 | 1520 | 0.0746 | |
| 7 | Brigham Young University | 8000 | 22000 | 0.6362 | 32,952 | 1374 | 0.6778 | |
| 8 | Bowdoin College | 8200 | 89900 | 0.909 | 1,881 | 1505 | 0.0713 | |
| 9 | Columbia University in the City of New York | 8300 | 97100 | 0.915 | 9,164 | 1535 | 0.0399 | |
| 10 | Hamilton College | 9100 | 89100 | 0.8981 | 2,031 | 1499 | 0.1362 | |
| 11 | Grinnell College | 9400 | 91400 | 0.8973 | 1,788 | 1462 | 0.1451 | |
| 11 | Pomona College | 9400 | 90100 | 0.8959 | 1,700 | 1520 | 0.0709 | |
| 11 | University of Richmond | 9400 | 88400 | 0.8938 | 3,055 | 1484 | 0.222 | |
| 11 | Washington and Lee University | 9400 | 96200 | 0.9025 | 1,886 | 1488 | 0.1397 | |
| 15 | University of Pennsylvania | 9500 | 92900 | 0.8977 | 11,478 | 1536 | 0.054 | |
| 15 | Wellesley College | 9500 | 91300 | 0.8961 | 2,407 | 1500 | 0.1405 | |
| 17 | Haverford College | 9700 | 97600 | 0.9007 | 1,431 | 1499 | 0.1237 | |
| 18 | University of California-Davis | 10200 | 38100 | 0.7328 | 32,273 | 1290 | 0.4183 | |
| 19 | Colgate University | 10600 | 95800 | 0.889 | 3,193 | 1488 | 0.1388 | |
| 20 | Duke University | 11000 | 93600 | 0.8827 | 6,523 | 1527 | 0.0571 | |
| 21 | Pitzer College | 11100 | 94100 | 0.8822 | 1,242 | 1279 | 0.2516 | |
| 22 | Carleton College | 11300 | 74000 | 0.8468 | 2,128 | 1490 | 0.2041 | |
| 23 | Cornell University | 11800 | 93100 | 0.8735 | 16,128 | 1521 | 0.0876 | |
| 24 | Northeastern State University | 11900 | 22900 | 0.4794 | 5,111 | 1055 | 0.9959 | |
| 25 | Lafayette College | 12000 | 85800 | 0.8606 | 2,775 | 1427 | 0.3145 | |
| 25 | Vassar College | 12000 | 92400 | 0.8704 | 2,462 | 1499 | 0.1857 | |
| 27 | University of California-Merced | 12500 | 41900 | 0.7018 | 8,372 | 1070 | 0.9053 | |
| 28 | Albion College | 12700 | 75400 | 0.8321 | 1,308 | 1065 | 0.807 | |
| 29 | University of Michigan-Flint | 13000 | 46300 | 0.719 | 5,011 | 1109 | 0.7046 | |
| 29 | Western Kentucky University | 13000 | 27000 | 0.5169 | 14,151 | 970 | 0.9387 | |
| 31 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 13300 | 13300 | 0 | 18,288 | 1090 | 0.9068 | |
| 32 | Denison University | 13400 | 69300 | 0.8059 | 2,394 | 1412 | 0.1739 | |
| 32 | St Olaf College | 13400 | 75900 | 0.8235 | 3,124 | 1378 | 0.4832 | |
| 34 | Trinity University | 13500 | 69600 | 0.8064 | 2,518 | 1423 | 0.2592 | |
| 35 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 13600 | 34600 | 0.6076 | 8,945 | 1099 | 0.975 | |
| 35 | University of Delaware | 13600 | 34500 | 0.6054 | 20,026 | 1294 | 0.706 | |
| 37 | Middlebury College | 13800 | 89900 | 0.8466 | 2,760 | 1499 | 0.1075 | |
| 38 | Union College | 14100 | 92400 | 0.8473 | 2,065 | 1393 | 0.4392 | |
| 39 | Northern Illinois University | 14300 | 28800 | 0.5048 | 11,348 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 40 | Stanford University | 14800 | 71700 | 0.794 | 7,904 | 1535 | 0.0361 | |
| 41 | Northeastern University | 15000 | 89900 | 0.8331 | 17,432 | 1490 | 0.0522 | |
| 41 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 15000 | 22400 | 0.3299 | 4,213 | 1124 | 0.8949 | |
| 43 | Murray State University | 15100 | 27000 | 0.4426 | 7,851 | 1115 | 0.8568 | |
| 44 | Macalester College | 15300 | 90100 | 0.8306 | 2,138 | 1425 | 0.2852 | |
| 45 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 15600 | 31000 | 0.4964 | 8,553 | 1045 | 0.8688 | |
| 46 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 15900 | 38500 | 0.5862 | 37,140 | 1406 | 0.4237 | |
| 47 | University of Kansas | 16000 | 34900 | 0.5421 | 22,085 | 1176 | 0.9348 | |
| 48 | Whitman College | 17400 | 85500 | 0.796 | 1,561 | 1399 | 0.3815 | |
| 49 | Barnard College | 17600 | 99700 | 0.8232 | 3,487 | 1499 | 0.0884 | |
| 50 | Occidental College | 18400 | 89200 | 0.7941 | 1,881 | 1447 | 0.4417 | |
| 51 | Scripps College | 19000 | 94900 | 0.8002 | 1,117 | 1475 | 0.3829 | |
| 52 | Loyola University New Orleans | 19900 | 72100 | 0.7238 | 3,007 | 1155 | 0.9305 | |
| 53 | University of Rochester | 20300 | 93100 | 0.7822 | 6,580 | 1462 | 0.4008 | |
| 54 | Stetson University | 20700 | 79100 | 0.7387 | 2,349 | 1179 | 0.716 | |
| 55 | College of Coastal Georgia | 20800 | 29400 | 0.2925 | 3,468 | 1005 | 0.9813 | |
| 56 | Luther College | 21500 | 71900 | 0.7014 | 1,384 | 1226 | 0.7154 | |
| 57 | Niagara University | 22000 | 57400 | 0.6165 | 2,692 | 1160 | 0.8737 | |
| 58 | Sterling College | 22100 | 53900 | 0.5906 | 670 | 1070 | 0.4817 | |
| 59 | Cottey College | 22300 | 37300 | 0.4025 | 254 | 991 | 0.6918 | |
| 60 | Lake Forest College | 22500 | 75400 | 0.7021 | 1,814 | 1323 | 0.5681 | |
| 61 | New York University | 22700 | 91800 | 0.7524 | 29,060 | 1520 | 0.0923 | |
| 62 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 23100 | 69800 | 0.6694 | 3,135 | 1307 | 0.5493 | |
| 63 | University of Central Missouri | 24500 | 35800 | 0.3173 | 7,584 | 1055 | 0.638 | |
| 64 | Pennsylvania Western University | 24900 | 34400 | 0.2759 | 7,586 | 1045 | 0.9433 | |
| 64 | Wilson College | 24900 | 44400 | 0.4401 | 1,379 | 1055 | 0.9211 | |
| 66 | Earlham College | 26500 | 75800 | 0.6512 | 696 | 1233 | 0.7311 | |
| 67 | Kansas State University | 27000 | 31400 | 0.141 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8169 | |
| 68 | University of North Georgia | 27400 | 38600 | 0.2905 | 18,322 | 1100 | 0.6794 | |
| 69 | Canisius University | 27800 | 54700 | 0.492 | 1,724 | 1186 | 0.7236 | |
| 69 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27800 | 61400 | 0.5467 | 1,830 | 1164 | 0.7381 | |
| 69 | St. Francis College | 27800 | 39400 | 0.2948 | 1,719 | 1119 | 0.8427 | |
| 69 | University of North Alabama | 27800 | 37300 | 0.2547 | 7,662 | 1140 | 0.8731 | |
| 73 | Agnes Scott College | 28100 | 69200 | 0.5937 | 843 | 1269 | 0.6215 | |
| 74 | Knox College | 28400 | 68900 | 0.5875 | 1,136 | 1281 | 0.7079 | |
| 74 | Westminster University | 28400 | 62600 | 0.5466 | 842 | 1233 | 0.6657 | |
| 76 | University of Utah | 28900 | 32000 | 0.097 | 28,064 | 1237 | 0.8598 | |
| 77 | Creighton University | 29200 | 68000 | 0.5709 | 4,377 | 1328 | 0.7975 | |
| 77 | Regis University | 29200 | 67200 | 0.5651 | 2,689 | 1222 | 0.8646 | |
| 79 | University of Toledo | 29900 | 42000 | 0.2884 | 11,013 | 1229 | 0.9202 | |
| 80 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 30000 | 42200 | 0.2889 | 15,375 | 1103 | 0.866 | |
| 81 | The College of Wooster | 30800 | 82400 | 0.626 | 1,738 | 1344 | 0.5953 | |
| 82 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 31200 | 48800 | 0.361 | 20,591 | 1435 | 0.1407 | |
| 83 | University of North Florida | 31300 | 33000 | 0.0516 | 13,735 | 1150 | 0.5324 | |
| 84 | Berry College | 32700 | 60900 | 0.4633 | 2,254 | 1219 | 0.64 | |
| 85 | LeTourneau University | 34000 | 54800 | 0.3798 | 3,187 | 1178 | 0.3801 | |
| 86 | Sacred Heart University | 34600 | 67500 | 0.4877 | 7,204 | 950 | 0.6536 | |
| 87 | New York Institute of Technology | 35500 | 83600 | 0.575 | 3,646 | 1298 | 0.8102 | |
| 88 | Baldwin Wallace University | 35600 | 66100 | 0.4616 | 2,862 | 1203 | 0.757 | |
| 89 | University of Nevada-Reno | 38000 | 45800 | 0.1704 | 19,117 | 1134 | 0.7371 | |
| 90 | Southern Nazarene University | 38200 | 48400 | 0.2108 | 1,456 | 0 | 0 | |
| 91 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 38700 | 53100 | 0.2711 | 30,564 | 1302 | 0.416 | |
| 92 | University of Charleston | 39200 | 51200 | 0.2342 | 2,348 | 1075 | 0.6152 | |
| 93 | Pace University | 40700 | 74800 | 0.4558 | 8,038 | 1260 | 0.7592 | |
| 94 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 41500 | 55200 | 0.2481 | 25,900 | 1375 | 0.5808 | |
| 95 | Oglethorpe University | 42000 | 68600 | 0.3881 | 1,396 | 1216 | 0.8845 | |
| 96 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43600 | 68700 | 0.3652 | 3,666 | 1224 | 0.577 | |
| 97 | Georgia College & State University | 45300 | 52400 | 0.1355 | 6,006 | 1165 | 0.7823 | |
| 98 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 48700 | 91400 | 0.4673 | 8,192 | 1451 | 0.1398 | |
| 99 | Drexel University | 48900 | 83900 | 0.4172 | 13,309 | 1339 | 0.7944 | |
| 100 | University of California-Riverside | 49300 | 66000 | 0.2532 | 22,600 | 1199 | 0.7639 | |
| 101 | Woodbury University | 53000 | 69500 | 0.2373 | 786 | 1087 | 0.8165 | |
| 102 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 60900 | 63000 | 0.0334 | 38,093 | 1302 | 0.7821 | |
| 103 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 61000 | 63200 | 0.0348 | 40,684 | 1331 | 0.3915 | |
| 104 | University of Oregon | 64200 | 71300 | 0.0997 | 20,622 | 1250 | 0.883 | |
| 105 | University of California-Berkeley | 70800 | 76100 | 0.0697 | 33,070 | 1407 | 0.1098 | |
| 106 | University of California-Irvine | 72000 | 75600 | 0.0476 | 30,204 | 1333 | 0.2857 |
School data is from 2023–2024 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.
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