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 | Trinity College | 3800 | 92800 | 0.9594 | 2,204 | 1393 | 0.2925 | |
| 2 | Smith College | 5900 | 96800 | 0.9395 | 2,549 | 1477 | 0.21 | |
| 3 | Davidson College | 6000 | 95600 | 0.9371 | 1,869 | 1454 | 0.1337 | |
| 4 | Bates College | 6400 | 92900 | 0.9309 | 1,760 | 1469 | 0.1332 | |
| 4 | Swarthmore College | 6400 | 93800 | 0.9319 | 1,623 | 1520 | 0.0746 | |
| 6 | Amherst College | 6800 | 96200 | 0.9298 | 1,914 | 1514 | 0.0901 | |
| 7 | Brigham Young University | 8000 | 22000 | 0.6362 | 32,952 | 1374 | 0.6778 | |
| 8 | Bowdoin College | 8100 | 89900 | 0.9101 | 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 Pennsylvania | 9400 | 92900 | 0.8988 | 11,478 | 1536 | 0.054 | |
| 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 | |
| 16 | Wellesley College | 9500 | 91300 | 0.8961 | 2,407 | 1500 | 0.1405 | |
| 17 | Haverford College | 9700 | 97600 | 0.9007 | 1,431 | 1499 | 0.1237 | |
| 18 | Colgate University | 10600 | 95800 | 0.889 | 3,193 | 1488 | 0.1388 | |
| 19 | Duke University | 10900 | 93600 | 0.8838 | 6,523 | 1527 | 0.0571 | |
| 20 | Pitzer College | 11100 | 94100 | 0.8822 | 1,242 | 1279 | 0.2516 | |
| 21 | Carleton College | 11300 | 74000 | 0.8471 | 2,128 | 1490 | 0.2041 | |
| 22 | Cornell University | 11700 | 93100 | 0.8745 | 16,128 | 1521 | 0.0876 | |
| 23 | Lafayette College | 11900 | 85800 | 0.8618 | 2,775 | 1427 | 0.3145 | |
| 23 | Northeastern State University | 11900 | 22900 | 0.4794 | 5,111 | 1055 | 0.9959 | |
| 25 | Vassar College | 12000 | 92400 | 0.8704 | 2,462 | 1499 | 0.1857 | |
| 26 | Albion College | 12700 | 75400 | 0.8321 | 1,308 | 1065 | 0.807 | |
| 27 | University of Michigan-Flint | 13000 | 46300 | 0.719 | 5,011 | 1109 | 0.7046 | |
| 27 | University of North Alabama | 13000 | 28200 | 0.5393 | 7,662 | 1140 | 0.8731 | |
| 29 | Denison University | 13400 | 69300 | 0.8059 | 2,394 | 1412 | 0.1739 | |
| 29 | St Olaf College | 13400 | 75900 | 0.8235 | 3,124 | 1378 | 0.4832 | |
| 31 | Trinity University | 13500 | 69600 | 0.8064 | 2,518 | 1423 | 0.2592 | |
| 32 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 13600 | 34600 | 0.6076 | 8,945 | 1099 | 0.975 | |
| 33 | Middlebury College | 13800 | 89900 | 0.8466 | 2,760 | 1499 | 0.1075 | |
| 34 | University of California-Merced | 14000 | 41900 | 0.666 | 8,372 | 1070 | 0.9053 | |
| 35 | Union College | 14100 | 92400 | 0.8473 | 2,065 | 1393 | 0.4392 | |
| 36 | Northern Illinois University | 14300 | 28800 | 0.5048 | 11,348 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 37 | Stanford University | 14800 | 71700 | 0.794 | 7,904 | 1535 | 0.0361 | |
| 38 | Northeastern University | 15000 | 89900 | 0.8331 | 17,432 | 1490 | 0.0522 | |
| 39 | Macalester College | 15300 | 90100 | 0.8306 | 2,138 | 1425 | 0.2852 | |
| 40 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 15600 | 31000 | 0.4964 | 8,553 | 1045 | 0.8688 | |
| 41 | University of Central Missouri | 15700 | 26600 | 0.4094 | 7,584 | 1055 | 0.638 | |
| 42 | Kansas State University | 15800 | 26100 | 0.3949 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8169 | |
| 43 | University of California-Riverside | 15900 | 36500 | 0.564 | 22,600 | 1199 | 0.7639 | |
| 44 | Whitman College | 17300 | 85500 | 0.798 | 1,561 | 1399 | 0.3815 | |
| 45 | Barnard College | 17600 | 99700 | 0.8232 | 3,487 | 1499 | 0.0884 | |
| 46 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 17700 | 17700 | 0 | 18,288 | 1090 | 0.9068 | |
| 47 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 17900 | 43200 | 0.5853 | 20,591 | 1435 | 0.1407 | |
| 48 | University of California-Berkeley | 18300 | 43500 | 0.5798 | 33,070 | 1407 | 0.1098 | |
| 49 | Occidental College | 18400 | 89200 | 0.7941 | 1,881 | 1447 | 0.4417 | |
| 50 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 18700 | 26300 | 0.2889 | 4,213 | 1124 | 0.8949 | |
| 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 | 20200 | 93100 | 0.7833 | 6,580 | 1462 | 0.4008 | |
| 54 | Stetson University | 20700 | 79100 | 0.7387 | 2,349 | 1179 | 0.716 | |
| 55 | Luther College | 21400 | 71900 | 0.7019 | 1,384 | 1226 | 0.7154 | |
| 56 | Niagara University | 22000 | 57400 | 0.6165 | 2,692 | 1160 | 0.8737 | |
| 57 | Sterling College | 22100 | 53900 | 0.5895 | 670 | 1070 | 0.4817 | |
| 58 | Cottey College | 22300 | 37300 | 0.4025 | 254 | 991 | 0.6918 | |
| 59 | Lake Forest College | 22500 | 75400 | 0.7021 | 1,814 | 1323 | 0.5681 | |
| 60 | New York University | 22600 | 91800 | 0.7535 | 29,060 | 1520 | 0.0923 | |
| 61 | Murray State University | 22900 | 27600 | 0.1687 | 7,851 | 1115 | 0.8568 | |
| 62 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 23000 | 69800 | 0.6709 | 3,135 | 1307 | 0.5493 | |
| 63 | University of Kansas | 24200 | 37600 | 0.3573 | 22,085 | 1176 | 0.9348 | |
| 64 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 24600 | 40500 | 0.3927 | 25,900 | 1375 | 0.5808 | |
| 65 | Pennsylvania Western University | 24900 | 34400 | 0.2759 | 7,586 | 1045 | 0.9433 | |
| 65 | Wilson College | 24900 | 44400 | 0.4406 | 1,379 | 1055 | 0.9211 | |
| 67 | Western Kentucky University | 25900 | 41800 | 0.3803 | 14,151 | 970 | 0.9387 | |
| 68 | Earlham College | 26400 | 75800 | 0.6516 | 696 | 1233 | 0.7311 | |
| 69 | College of Coastal Georgia | 26600 | 36000 | 0.2612 | 3,468 | 1005 | 0.9813 | |
| 70 | University of North Georgia | 27400 | 38600 | 0.2905 | 18,322 | 1100 | 0.6794 | |
| 71 | Canisius University | 27800 | 54700 | 0.492 | 1,724 | 1186 | 0.7236 | |
| 71 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27800 | 61400 | 0.5467 | 1,830 | 1164 | 0.7381 | |
| 71 | St. Francis College | 27800 | 39400 | 0.2948 | 1,719 | 1119 | 0.8427 | |
| 74 | Agnes Scott College | 28100 | 69200 | 0.5937 | 843 | 1269 | 0.6215 | |
| 75 | Knox College | 28400 | 68900 | 0.5875 | 1,136 | 1281 | 0.7079 | |
| 75 | Westminster University | 28400 | 62600 | 0.5466 | 842 | 1233 | 0.6657 | |
| 77 | University of Utah | 28900 | 32000 | 0.0984 | 28,064 | 1237 | 0.8598 | |
| 78 | Creighton University | 29200 | 68000 | 0.5709 | 4,377 | 1328 | 0.7975 | |
| 78 | Regis University | 29200 | 67200 | 0.5651 | 2,689 | 1222 | 0.8646 | |
| 80 | University of Toledo | 29500 | 32600 | 0.0966 | 11,013 | 1229 | 0.9202 | |
| 81 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 30000 | 42200 | 0.2889 | 15,375 | 1103 | 0.866 | |
| 82 | The College of Wooster | 30800 | 82400 | 0.6266 | 1,738 | 1344 | 0.5953 | |
| 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 | University of Oregon | 34700 | 40200 | 0.1383 | 20,622 | 1250 | 0.883 | |
| 88 | New York Institute of Technology | 35500 | 83600 | 0.5755 | 3,646 | 1298 | 0.8102 | |
| 89 | Baldwin Wallace University | 35600 | 66100 | 0.4616 | 2,862 | 1203 | 0.757 | |
| 90 | University of Nevada-Reno | 38000 | 45800 | 0.1704 | 19,117 | 1134 | 0.7371 | |
| 91 | Southern Nazarene University | 38200 | 48400 | 0.2117 | 1,456 | 0 | 0 | |
| 92 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 38600 | 53100 | 0.2729 | 30,564 | 1302 | 0.416 | |
| 93 | University of Charleston | 39200 | 51200 | 0.2342 | 2,348 | 1075 | 0.6152 | |
| 94 | Pace University | 40700 | 74800 | 0.4558 | 8,038 | 1260 | 0.7592 | |
| 95 | Oglethorpe University | 41900 | 68600 | 0.3887 | 1,396 | 1216 | 0.8845 | |
| 96 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43400 | 68600 | 0.3667 | 3,666 | 1224 | 0.577 | |
| 97 | Georgia College & State University | 45300 | 52400 | 0.1355 | 6,006 | 1165 | 0.7823 | |
| 98 | University of Delaware | 48400 | 61300 | 0.211 | 20,026 | 1294 | 0.706 | |
| 99 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 48600 | 91400 | 0.4684 | 8,192 | 1451 | 0.1398 | |
| 100 | Drexel University | 48800 | 83900 | 0.4184 | 13,309 | 1339 | 0.7944 | |
| 101 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 49800 | 62200 | 0.1995 | 37,140 | 1406 | 0.4237 | |
| 102 | Woodbury University | 52900 | 69500 | 0.2388 | 786 | 1087 | 0.8165 | |
| 103 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 60800 | 63000 | 0.0342 | 38,093 | 1302 | 0.7821 | |
| 104 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 61000 | 63200 | 0.0348 | 40,684 | 1331 | 0.3915 | |
| 105 | University of California-Davis | 69800 | 69800 | 0 | 32,273 | 1290 | 0.4183 | |
| 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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