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 | 1,860 | 1463 | 0.1262 | |
| 2 | Trinity College | 3900 | 92800 | 0.9583 | 2,112 | 1404 | 0.2953 | |
| 3 | Amherst College | 5800 | 96200 | 0.9402 | 1,907 | 1500 | 0.0772 | |
| 4 | Smith College | 5900 | 96800 | 0.9395 | 2,578 | 1466 | 0.2241 | |
| 5 | Bates College | 6400 | 92900 | 0.9309 | 1,736 | 1412 | 0.1483 | |
| 5 | Swarthmore College | 6400 | 93800 | 0.9319 | 1,631 | 1513 | 0.0752 | |
| 7 | Brigham Young University | 8000 | 22000 | 0.6362 | 34,354 | 1374 | 0.6862 | |
| 8 | Columbia University in the City of New York | 8300 | 97100 | 0.915 | 9,164 | 1535 | 0.0386 | |
| 9 | Hamilton College | 8900 | 89100 | 0.9004 | 1,980 | 1484 | 0.1359 | |
| 10 | Grinnell College | 9300 | 91400 | 0.8984 | 1,668 | 1469 | 0.1605 | |
| 11 | Washington and Lee University | 9400 | 96200 | 0.9025 | 1,916 | 1484 | 0.1354 | |
| 12 | Bowdoin College | 9500 | 89900 | 0.8945 | 1,841 | 1499 | 0.0681 | |
| 12 | Pomona College | 9500 | 90100 | 0.8948 | 1,721 | 1499 | 0.0714 | |
| 12 | University of Richmond | 9500 | 88400 | 0.8926 | 3,052 | 1472 | 0.2224 | |
| 15 | Wellesley College | 9700 | 91300 | 0.8939 | 2,366 | 1499 | 0.1479 | |
| 16 | Haverford College | 9900 | 97600 | 0.8986 | 1,420 | 1490 | 0.1331 | |
| 17 | Colgate University | 10600 | 95800 | 0.889 | 3,193 | 1488 | 0.1388 | |
| 18 | Duke University | 10700 | 93600 | 0.8859 | 6,525 | 1533 | 0.0524 | |
| 19 | Carleton College | 11100 | 74000 | 0.8499 | 1,974 | 1492 | 0.2178 | |
| 20 | Cornell University | 11500 | 93100 | 0.8767 | 16,138 | 1528 | 0.0838 | |
| 21 | Lafayette College | 11700 | 85800 | 0.8641 | 2,675 | 1415 | 0.3116 | |
| 22 | Northeastern State University | 11800 | 22900 | 0.4838 | 5,145 | 1035 | 0.9974 | |
| 23 | University of Pennsylvania | 12000 | 92900 | 0.8708 | 9,989 | 1535 | 0.0492 | |
| 24 | St Olaf College | 12100 | 75900 | 0.8406 | 3,114 | 1374 | 0.4338 | |
| 24 | Vassar College | 12100 | 92400 | 0.8693 | 2,514 | 1488 | 0.2093 | |
| 26 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 12500 | 28100 | 0.5551 | 8,421 | 1054 | 0.9444 | |
| 27 | University of North Florida | 12600 | 22400 | 0.438 | 14,837 | 1124 | 0.6815 | |
| 28 | Albion College | 12700 | 75400 | 0.8321 | 1,168 | 1065 | 0.7437 | |
| 28 | Pitzer College | 12700 | 94100 | 0.8652 | 1,193 | 1279 | 0.2685 | |
| 30 | Colorado College | 12800 | 98000 | 0.869 | 1,887 | 1357 | 0.2209 | |
| 31 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 13300 | 13300 | 0 | 18,667 | 1090 | 0.9711 | |
| 32 | Denison University | 13500 | 69300 | 0.8051 | 2,458 | 1366 | 0.1955 | |
| 32 | University of Delaware | 13500 | 34500 | 0.608 | 19,287 | 1302 | 0.6924 | |
| 34 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 13600 | 34600 | 0.6076 | 8,945 | 1099 | 0.975 | |
| 34 | Trinity University | 13600 | 69600 | 0.805 | 2,423 | 1408 | 0.2488 | |
| 36 | Middlebury College | 13900 | 89900 | 0.8454 | 2,640 | 1499 | 0.1277 | |
| 37 | University of California-Merced | 14000 | 41900 | 0.666 | 8,234 | 1070 | 0.9704 | |
| 38 | Union College | 14200 | 92400 | 0.8462 | 1,954 | 1399 | 0.4342 | |
| 39 | Northern Illinois University | 14300 | 28800 | 0.5048 | 12,118 | 1070 | 0.7164 | |
| 40 | Stanford University | 14800 | 71700 | 0.794 | 7,346 | 1542 | 0.038 | |
| 41 | Murray State University | 14900 | 27000 | 0.4495 | 8,217 | 1124 | 0.8413 | |
| 42 | Northeastern University | 15000 | 89900 | 0.8331 | 22,456 | 1481 | 0.0562 | |
| 42 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 15000 | 22400 | 0.3299 | 4,056 | 1090 | 0.4151 | |
| 44 | Macalester College | 15400 | 90100 | 0.8295 | 2,068 | 1415 | 0.2813 | |
| 45 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 15800 | 38500 | 0.5888 | 38,572 | 1455 | 0.3659 | |
| 46 | University of Kansas | 16000 | 34900 | 0.5417 | 22,544 | 1176 | 0.9258 | |
| 47 | Whitman College | 17400 | 85500 | 0.796 | 1,468 | 1397 | 0.4016 | |
| 48 | Barnard College | 17600 | 99700 | 0.8232 | 3,223 | 1499 | 0.1005 | |
| 49 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 17900 | 44300 | 0.5956 | 21,028 | 1450 | 0.1334 | |
| 50 | Georgia College & State University | 18300 | 18300 | 0 | 6,250 | 1165 | 0.8466 | |
| 51 | Occidental College | 18500 | 89200 | 0.7929 | 1,822 | 1440 | 0.4485 | |
| 52 | University of Nevada-Reno | 19200 | 28200 | 0.3189 | 20,204 | 1109 | 0.8313 | |
| 53 | Stetson University | 19400 | 79100 | 0.7551 | 2,414 | 1089 | 0.7167 | |
| 54 | Loyola University New Orleans | 19700 | 72100 | 0.7266 | 2,871 | 1150 | 0.9058 | |
| 54 | Pennsylvania Western University | 19700 | 29000 | 0.3212 | 7,586 | 1045 | 0.9433 | |
| 56 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 20100 | 32300 | 0.3775 | 15,735 | 1069 | 0.8797 | |
| 56 | University of Rochester | 20100 | 93100 | 0.7843 | 6,096 | 1448 | 0.4191 | |
| 58 | Luther College | 21500 | 75400 | 0.7153 | 1,384 | 1226 | 0.8398 | |
| 59 | Niagara University | 21800 | 57400 | 0.62 | 2,638 | 1170 | 0.876 | |
| 60 | Sterling College | 22200 | 77400 | 0.7129 | 649 | 1103 | 0.8759 | |
| 61 | Cottey College | 22300 | 37300 | 0.4026 | 261 | 991 | 0.7023 | |
| 61 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 22300 | 69800 | 0.6809 | 3,190 | 1317 | 0.6187 | |
| 63 | New York University | 22400 | 91800 | 0.7556 | 29,471 | 1520 | 0.0906 | |
| 64 | University of Central Missouri | 24300 | 35800 | 0.3225 | 10,397 | 1055 | 0.7439 | |
| 65 | Wilson College | 24800 | 44400 | 0.4421 | 1,379 | 1055 | 0.9211 | |
| 66 | Lake Forest College | 25300 | 75400 | 0.6649 | 1,786 | 1304 | 0.5363 | |
| 67 | Earlham College | 26300 | 75800 | 0.6528 | 670 | 1237 | 0.7904 | |
| 68 | College of Coastal Georgia | 26600 | 36000 | 0.2612 | 3,609 | 1005 | 0.9885 | |
| 69 | Western Kentucky University | 26800 | 41800 | 0.3588 | 13,732 | 1090 | 0.9145 | |
| 70 | St. Francis College | 26900 | 39400 | 0.3177 | 1,719 | 1035 | 1 | |
| 71 | Kansas State University | 27000 | 31400 | 0.1412 | 16,555 | 1163 | 0.875 | |
| 72 | University of North Alabama | 27400 | 37300 | 0.2655 | 8,078 | 1124 | 0.7054 | |
| 72 | University of North Georgia | 27400 | 38600 | 0.2905 | 19,321 | 1100 | 0.9618 | |
| 74 | Creighton University | 27600 | 68000 | 0.5944 | 4,833 | 1328 | 0.9216 | |
| 75 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27800 | 61400 | 0.5468 | 1,804 | 1159 | 0.7258 | |
| 76 | Agnes Scott College | 28300 | 69200 | 0.5908 | 731 | 1219 | 0.6353 | |
| 77 | Canisius University | 28500 | 54700 | 0.4792 | 1,728 | 1186 | 0.7323 | |
| 77 | Westminster University | 28500 | 62600 | 0.545 | 868 | 1205 | 0.6513 | |
| 79 | Knox College | 28600 | 68900 | 0.5846 | 1,108 | 1274 | 0.772 | |
| 80 | University of Toledo | 29300 | 32600 | 0.1009 | 10,726 | 1134 | 0.8889 | |
| 81 | Scripps College | 30400 | 94900 | 0.68 | 1,103 | 1472 | 0.3988 | |
| 82 | The College of Wooster | 30700 | 82400 | 0.6271 | 1,515 | 1345 | 0.6438 | |
| 83 | Southern Nazarene University | 32000 | 48400 | 0.3385 | 1,473 | 1055 | 1 | |
| 84 | Berry College | 32600 | 60900 | 0.465 | 2,262 | 1219 | 0.7315 | |
| 85 | New York Institute of Technology | 35400 | 83600 | 0.577 | 3,646 | 1298 | 0.8102 | |
| 86 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 36300 | 53100 | 0.3162 | 32,041 | 1324 | 0.4358 | |
| 87 | LeTourneau University | 38400 | 54800 | 0.2995 | 2,903 | 1242 | 0.4879 | |
| 88 | Baldwin Wallace University | 39000 | 66100 | 0.4102 | 2,532 | 1210 | 0.7739 | |
| 89 | University of Charleston | 39200 | 51200 | 0.2342 | 2,348 | 1075 | 0.5975 | |
| 90 | Pace University | 40500 | 74800 | 0.4585 | 5,520 | 1273 | 0.7827 | |
| 91 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 41600 | 55200 | 0.2463 | 21,388 | 1369 | 0.5945 | |
| 92 | Oglethorpe University | 41800 | 68600 | 0.3908 | 1,338 | 1205 | 0.898 | |
| 93 | Sacred Heart University | 42600 | 67500 | 0.3691 | 7,291 | 1265 | 0.6363 | |
| 94 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43400 | 68700 | 0.3679 | 4,279 | 1234 | 0.5796 | |
| 95 | Texas Christian University | 44300 | 87400 | 0.4934 | 11,152 | 1268 | 0.4809 | |
| 96 | Drexel University | 47700 | 83900 | 0.4315 | 12,318 | 1354 | 0.699 | |
| 97 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 48300 | 91400 | 0.4717 | 6,839 | 1469 | 0.1446 | |
| 98 | University of California-Riverside | 49200 | 66000 | 0.2547 | 24,034 | 1199 | 0.8609 | |
| 99 | University of Utah | 51400 | 53700 | 0.0426 | 29,335 | 1222 | 0.9015 | |
| 100 | Woodbury University | 54000 | 69500 | 0.223 | 725 | 1087 | 0.7143 | |
| 101 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 58100 | 63200 | 0.0806 | 40,996 | 1399 | 0.4175 | |
| 102 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 60700 | 63000 | 0.0364 | 38,463 | 1324 | 0.7589 | |
| 103 | University of California-Davis | 68400 | 69800 | 0.0201 | 31,695 | 1290 | 0.4435 | |
| 104 | University of Oregon | 69000 | 71300 | 0.0321 | 20,710 | 1193 | 0.8742 | |
| 105 | University of California-Berkeley | 70800 | 76100 | 0.0697 | 33,513 | 1407 | 0.1145 | |
| 106 | University of California-Irvine | 72000 | 75600 | 0.0476 | 30,260 | 1333 | 0.2895 |
School data is from 2023–2024 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.
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