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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 | Cornell University | 10300 | 92000 | 0.8877 | 16,128 | 1521 | 0.0841 | |
| 1 | University of Wisconsin-River Falls | 10300 | 24000 | 0.5723 | 4,721 | 1110 | 0.7782 | |
| 3 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 11300 | 34400 | 0.6706 | 37,140 | 1442 | 0.4237 | |
| 4 | Northern Illinois University | 12300 | 29000 | 0.5744 | 11,349 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 5 | North Carolina A & T State University | 13700 | 17900 | 0.2353 | 12,216 | 1020 | 0.4617 | |
| 5 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 13700 | 32200 | 0.5744 | 39,083 | 1412 | 0.4517 | |
| 7 | Kansas State University | 14100 | 26100 | 0.4588 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8199 | |
| 8 | Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville | 14500 | 41100 | 0.6478 | 8,975 | 1045 | 0.9721 | |
| 9 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | 17200 | 26300 | 0.3464 | 19,701 | 1214 | 0.8749 | |
| 10 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | 20100 | 38800 | 0.4817 | 36,588 | 1367 | 0.6535 | |
| 11 | University of Maryland-College Park | 20900 | 27100 | 0.2289 | 31,133 | 1456 | 0.448 | |
| 12 | South Dakota State University | 22000 | 25200 | 0.1271 | 10,728 | 1120 | 0.9834 | |
| 13 | University of Kentucky | 23800 | 36000 | 0.3386 | 25,535 | 1193 | 0.9294 | |
| 14 | University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | 24700 | 42300 | 0.4158 | 1,905 | 965 | 0.5754 | |
| 15 | Iowa State University | 26100 | 42800 | 0.3894 | 25,628 | 1207 | 0.8866 | |
| 16 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | 27600 | 41900 | 0.3412 | 42,604 | 1336 | 0.6056 | |
| 17 | North Dakota State University | 27800 | 30400 | 0.0858 | 9,762 | 1110 | 0.9496 | |
| 18 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | 30900 | 42400 | 0.2713 | 21,947 | 1335 | 0.3122 | |
| 18 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 30900 | 39500 | 0.2175 | 14,576 | 1179 | 0.6967 | |
| 20 | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | 32600 | 38500 | 0.1533 | 7,890 | 1105 | 0.2056 | |
| 21 | North Carolina State University | 32800 | 54800 | 0.4017 | 28,422 | 1335 | 0.4167 | |
| 22 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 33600 | 46200 | 0.2729 | 8,553 | 1054 | 0.8688 | |
| 23 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 37400 | 62000 | 0.3968 | 31,035 | 1366 | 0.5499 | |
| 24 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus | 38600 | 44600 | 0.1345 | 22,351 | 1159 | 0.7504 | |
| 25 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 38800 | 52900 | 0.2664 | 30,564 | 1298 | 0.416 | |
| 26 | University of Georgia | 40300 | 46000 | 0.1242 | 31,514 | 1336 | 0.3719 | |
| 27 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | 42500 | 52100 | 0.1843 | 46,815 | 1339 | 0.6057 | |
| 28 | Purdue University-Main Campus | 43000 | 46200 | 0.0693 | 44,170 | 1327 | 0.4979 | |
| 29 | Oregon State University | 44900 | 61900 | 0.2748 | 31,253 | 1272 | 0.773 | |
| 30 | Michigan State University | 47200 | 56200 | 0.1601 | 41,234 | 1223 | 0.848 | |
| 31 | Texas A&M University-College Station | 52400 | 56100 | 0.0661 | 60,710 | 1278 | 0.5732 | |
| 32 | University of Minnesota Twin Cities | 53200 | 61000 | 0.1279 | 41,303 | 1338 | 0.7975 | |
| 33 | Clemson University | 61400 | 63700 | 0.0346 | 23,401 | 1343 | 0.3834 |
School data is from 2022–2023 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.