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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 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 6900 | 41600 | 0.8335 | 38,572 | 1455 | 0.3659 | |
| 2 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 10100 | 41500 | 0.7567 | 8,945 | 1099 | 0.975 | |
| 3 | University of Illinois Chicago | 12100 | 30200 | 0.5993 | 24,260 | 1174 | 0.7576 | |
| 4 | Northern Illinois University | 13300 | 32100 | 0.5856 | 12,118 | 1070 | 0.7164 | |
| 5 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 13700 | 61700 | 0.7774 | 39,193 | 1418 | 0.4081 | |
| 6 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 14800 | 57100 | 0.7404 | 15,735 | 1069 | 0.8797 | |
| 7 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus | 16500 | 26500 | 0.3761 | 23,003 | 1164 | 0.7367 | |
| 8 | Texas A&M University-College Station | 17500 | 29900 | 0.4164 | 60,710 | 1278 | 0.5732 | |
| 9 | University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | 18100 | 44300 | 0.5918 | 1,817 | 905 | 0.4118 | |
| 10 | University of Wisconsin-River Falls | 19200 | 24000 | 0.2024 | 5,063 | 1069 | 0.8756 | |
| 11 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 19900 | 45100 | 0.559 | 31,536 | 1366 | 0.5457 | |
| 12 | University of Maryland-College Park | 20900 | 27100 | 0.2287 | 31,875 | 1456 | 0.4503 | |
| 13 | South Dakota State University | 21700 | 25200 | 0.1414 | 10,883 | 1115 | 0.9618 | |
| 14 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | 25300 | 31100 | 0.1856 | 19,787 | 1197 | 0.8807 | |
| 15 | North Dakota State University | 27400 | 30400 | 0.0976 | 9,762 | 1110 | 0.9496 | |
| 16 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | 28600 | 43100 | 0.3367 | 22,313 | 1341 | 0.2996 | |
| 17 | Iowa State University | 28700 | 45200 | 0.3663 | 26,346 | 1212 | 0.8793 | |
| 18 | North Carolina State University | 32400 | 54800 | 0.4083 | 29,340 | 1374 | 0.3954 | |
| 19 | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | 34900 | 38500 | 0.0935 | 7,637 | 1115 | 0.1865 | |
| 20 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 35900 | 54000 | 0.3352 | 32,041 | 1324 | 0.4358 | |
| 21 | North Carolina A & T State University | 36500 | 36700 | 0.0054 | 12,497 | 1075 | 0.5125 | |
| 22 | Kansas State University | 40900 | 41900 | 0.0239 | 16,555 | 1163 | 0.875 | |
| 23 | Oregon State University | 44800 | 61900 | 0.2766 | 31,253 | 1272 | 0.773 | |
| 24 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | 47500 | 61500 | 0.2286 | 37,985 | 1390 | 0.5815 | |
| 25 | Purdue University-Main Campus | 48200 | 51200 | 0.0598 | 43,633 | 1342 | 0.4343 | |
| 26 | University of Kentucky | 48400 | 59900 | 0.1912 | 25,535 | 1193 | 0.9294 | |
| 27 | Michigan State University | 49200 | 56200 | 0.1245 | 41,415 | 1212 | 0.8324 | |
| 28 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | 50200 | 64400 | 0.2205 | 46,627 | 1366 | 0.492 | |
| 29 | University of Minnesota Twin Cities | 50600 | 63800 | 0.2065 | 42,565 | 1339 | 0.7887 | |
| 30 | University of Georgia | 52000 | 52100 | 0.0019 | 32,824 | 1348 | 0.3425 | |
| 31 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | 58300 | 63600 | 0.0834 | 42,604 | 1336 | 0.6056 | |
| 32 | Clemson University | 61100 | 63700 | 0.0403 | 23,401 | 1343 | 0.3834 |
School data is from 2023–2024 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.