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 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 11500 | 29100 | 0.6053 | 40,684 | 1331 | 0.3915 | |
| 24 | Cornell University | 11800 | 93100 | 0.8735 | 16,128 | 1521 | 0.0876 | |
| 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 | Colorado College | 12800 | 94600 | 0.865 | 2,031 | 1357 | 0.1847 | |
| 30 | Denison University | 13400 | 69300 | 0.8059 | 2,394 | 1412 | 0.1739 | |
| 30 | St Olaf College | 13400 | 75900 | 0.8235 | 3,124 | 1378 | 0.4832 | |
| 32 | Trinity University | 13500 | 69600 | 0.8064 | 2,518 | 1423 | 0.2592 | |
| 33 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 13600 | 34600 | 0.6076 | 8,945 | 1099 | 0.975 | |
| 34 | Middlebury College | 13800 | 89900 | 0.8466 | 2,760 | 1499 | 0.1075 | |
| 35 | Northeastern State University | 14000 | 20800 | 0.3264 | 5,111 | 1055 | 0.9959 | |
| 36 | Union College | 14100 | 92400 | 0.8473 | 2,065 | 1393 | 0.4392 | |
| 37 | Northern Illinois University | 14300 | 28800 | 0.5048 | 11,348 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 38 | Stanford University | 14800 | 71700 | 0.794 | 7,904 | 1535 | 0.0361 | |
| 39 | Northeastern University | 15000 | 89900 | 0.8331 | 17,432 | 1490 | 0.0522 | |
| 39 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 15000 | 22400 | 0.3299 | 4,213 | 1124 | 0.8949 | |
| 41 | Macalester College | 15300 | 90100 | 0.8306 | 2,138 | 1425 | 0.2852 | |
| 41 | University of California-Irvine | 15300 | 38000 | 0.5977 | 30,204 | 1333 | 0.2857 | |
| 43 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 15600 | 31000 | 0.4964 | 8,553 | 1045 | 0.8688 | |
| 44 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 15900 | 38500 | 0.5862 | 37,140 | 1406 | 0.4237 | |
| 45 | University of Kansas | 16000 | 34900 | 0.5421 | 22,085 | 1176 | 0.9348 | |
| 46 | Whitman College | 17400 | 85500 | 0.796 | 1,561 | 1399 | 0.3815 | |
| 47 | Barnard College | 17600 | 99700 | 0.8232 | 3,487 | 1499 | 0.0884 | |
| 48 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 17700 | 17700 | 0 | 18,288 | 1090 | 0.9068 | |
| 49 | Georgia College & State University | 18300 | 18300 | 0 | 6,006 | 1165 | 0.7823 | |
| 50 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 18400 | 30600 | 0.3971 | 38,093 | 1302 | 0.7821 | |
| 50 | Occidental College | 18400 | 89200 | 0.7941 | 1,881 | 1447 | 0.4417 | |
| 52 | Loyola University New Orleans | 19900 | 72100 | 0.7238 | 3,007 | 1155 | 0.9305 | |
| 53 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 20100 | 32300 | 0.3775 | 15,375 | 1103 | 0.866 | |
| 54 | University of Rochester | 20300 | 93100 | 0.7822 | 6,580 | 1462 | 0.4008 | |
| 55 | Stetson University | 20700 | 79100 | 0.7387 | 2,349 | 1179 | 0.716 | |
| 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 | Murray State University | 23000 | 27600 | 0.1671 | 7,851 | 1115 | 0.8568 | |
| 63 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 23100 | 69800 | 0.6694 | 3,135 | 1307 | 0.5493 | |
| 64 | University of Central Missouri | 24500 | 35800 | 0.3173 | 7,584 | 1055 | 0.638 | |
| 65 | Pennsylvania Western University | 24900 | 34400 | 0.2759 | 7,586 | 1045 | 0.9433 | |
| 65 | Wilson College | 24900 | 44400 | 0.4401 | 1,379 | 1055 | 0.9211 | |
| 67 | Western Kentucky University | 25900 | 41800 | 0.3803 | 14,151 | 970 | 0.9387 | |
| 68 | Earlham College | 26500 | 75800 | 0.6512 | 696 | 1233 | 0.7311 | |
| 69 | College of Coastal Georgia | 26600 | 36000 | 0.2612 | 3,468 | 1005 | 0.9813 | |
| 70 | Kansas State University | 27000 | 31400 | 0.1405 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8169 | |
| 71 | University of North Georgia | 27400 | 38600 | 0.2905 | 18,322 | 1100 | 0.6794 | |
| 72 | Canisius University | 27800 | 54700 | 0.492 | 1,724 | 1186 | 0.7236 | |
| 72 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27800 | 61400 | 0.5467 | 1,830 | 1164 | 0.7381 | |
| 72 | St. Francis College | 27800 | 39400 | 0.2948 | 1,719 | 1119 | 0.8427 | |
| 72 | University of North Alabama | 27800 | 37300 | 0.2547 | 7,662 | 1140 | 0.8731 | |
| 76 | Agnes Scott College | 28100 | 69200 | 0.5937 | 843 | 1269 | 0.6215 | |
| 77 | Knox College | 28400 | 68900 | 0.5875 | 1,136 | 1281 | 0.7079 | |
| 77 | Westminster University | 28400 | 62600 | 0.5466 | 842 | 1233 | 0.6657 | |
| 79 | University of Utah | 28900 | 32000 | 0.097 | 28,064 | 1237 | 0.8598 | |
| 80 | Creighton University | 29200 | 68000 | 0.5709 | 4,377 | 1328 | 0.7975 | |
| 81 | University of Toledo | 29500 | 32600 | 0.0952 | 11,013 | 1229 | 0.9202 | |
| 82 | Scripps College | 30500 | 94900 | 0.6789 | 1,117 | 1475 | 0.3829 | |
| 83 | The College of Wooster | 30800 | 82400 | 0.626 | 1,738 | 1344 | 0.5953 | |
| 84 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 31200 | 48800 | 0.361 | 20,591 | 1435 | 0.1407 | |
| 85 | University of North Florida | 31300 | 33000 | 0.0516 | 13,735 | 1150 | 0.5324 | |
| 86 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 32500 | 35100 | 0.0742 | 30,564 | 1302 | 0.416 | |
| 87 | Berry College | 32700 | 60900 | 0.4633 | 2,254 | 1219 | 0.64 | |
| 88 | LeTourneau University | 34000 | 54800 | 0.3798 | 3,187 | 1178 | 0.3801 | |
| 89 | Sacred Heart University | 34600 | 67500 | 0.4877 | 7,204 | 950 | 0.6536 | |
| 90 | University of Oregon | 34700 | 40200 | 0.1372 | 20,622 | 1250 | 0.883 | |
| 91 | New York Institute of Technology | 35500 | 83600 | 0.575 | 3,646 | 1298 | 0.8102 | |
| 92 | Baldwin Wallace University | 35600 | 66100 | 0.4616 | 2,862 | 1203 | 0.757 | |
| 93 | University of Nevada-Reno | 38000 | 45800 | 0.1704 | 19,117 | 1134 | 0.7371 | |
| 94 | Southern Nazarene University | 38200 | 48400 | 0.2108 | 1,456 | 0 | 0 | |
| 95 | University of Charleston | 39200 | 51200 | 0.2342 | 2,348 | 1075 | 0.6152 | |
| 96 | Pace University | 40700 | 74800 | 0.4558 | 8,038 | 1260 | 0.7592 | |
| 97 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 41500 | 55200 | 0.2481 | 25,900 | 1375 | 0.5808 | |
| 98 | Oglethorpe University | 42000 | 68600 | 0.3881 | 1,396 | 1216 | 0.8845 | |
| 99 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43600 | 68700 | 0.3652 | 3,666 | 1224 | 0.577 | |
| 100 | Texas Christian University | 43800 | 87400 | 0.4991 | 11,049 | 1283 | 0.4449 | |
| 101 | University of Delaware | 48400 | 61300 | 0.211 | 20,026 | 1294 | 0.706 | |
| 102 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 48700 | 91400 | 0.4673 | 8,192 | 1451 | 0.1398 | |
| 103 | Drexel University | 48900 | 83900 | 0.4172 | 13,309 | 1339 | 0.7944 | |
| 104 | University of California-Riverside | 49300 | 66000 | 0.2532 | 22,600 | 1199 | 0.7639 | |
| 105 | Woodbury University | 53000 | 69500 | 0.2373 | 786 | 1087 | 0.8165 | |
| 106 | University of California-Berkeley | 70800 | 76100 | 0.0697 | 33,070 | 1407 | 0.1098 |
School data is from 2023–2024 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.
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