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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 | 12200 | 41900 | 0.7083 | 37,140 | 1442 | 0.4237 | |
| 2 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 12700 | 34600 | 0.6336 | 8,975 | 1065 | 0.9721 | |
| 3 | Northern Illinois University | 13200 | 29000 | 0.5435 | 11,349 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 4 | University of Wisconsin-Madison | 13700 | 51900 | 0.7365 | 39,083 | 1412 | 0.4517 | |
| 5 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 14300 | 28100 | 0.4911 | 8,553 | 1054 | 0.8688 | |
| 6 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 14800 | 64500 | 0.7705 | 15,375 | 1179 | 0.866 | |
| 7 | University of Wisconsin-River Falls | 14900 | 20500 | 0.2735 | 4,721 | 1110 | 0.7782 | |
| 8 | North Carolina State University | 16500 | 28500 | 0.4199 | 28,422 | 1335 | 0.4167 | |
| 9 | University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | 18100 | 46600 | 0.6122 | 1,905 | 895 | 0.5754 | |
| 10 | Iowa State University | 20100 | 24200 | 0.1726 | 25,628 | 1207 | 0.8866 | |
| 11 | South Dakota State University | 20600 | 25200 | 0.1838 | 10,728 | 1120 | 0.9834 | |
| 11 | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | 20600 | 31100 | 0.3359 | 19,701 | 1214 | 0.8749 | |
| 13 | University of Kentucky | 23900 | 36100 | 0.3386 | 25,535 | 1193 | 0.9294 | |
| 14 | Michigan State University | 25800 | 28900 | 0.1089 | 41,234 | 1223 | 0.848 | |
| 15 | Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus | 27100 | 41500 | 0.3468 | 42,604 | 1336 | 0.6056 | |
| 16 | North Dakota State University | 27800 | 30400 | 0.0835 | 9,762 | 1110 | 0.9496 | |
| 17 | Kansas State University | 29200 | 31400 | 0.0717 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8199 | |
| 18 | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo | 32800 | 43100 | 0.2392 | 21,947 | 1335 | 0.3122 | |
| 19 | Rutgers University-New Brunswick | 34100 | 58500 | 0.4177 | 36,588 | 1367 | 0.6535 | |
| 20 | Oklahoma State University-Main Campus | 35700 | 42800 | 0.1648 | 22,351 | 1159 | 0.7504 | |
| 21 | North Carolina A & T State University | 36200 | 36600 | 0.0109 | 12,216 | 1040 | 0.4617 | |
| 22 | Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | 37400 | 66500 | 0.4373 | 31,035 | 1366 | 0.5499 | |
| 23 | Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University | 38500 | 38500 | 0 | 7,890 | 1105 | 0.2056 | |
| 24 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 38700 | 53400 | 0.2754 | 30,564 | 1302 | 0.416 | |
| 25 | University of Maryland-College Park | 43000 | 53400 | 0.1948 | 31,133 | 1456 | 0.448 | |
| 26 | Ohio State University-Main Campus | 43400 | 53700 | 0.1917 | 46,815 | 1339 | 0.6057 | |
| 27 | Oregon State University | 44900 | 61900 | 0.2745 | 31,253 | 1272 | 0.773 | |
| 28 | University of Georgia | 45900 | 51600 | 0.1108 | 31,514 | 1336 | 0.3719 | |
| 29 | Purdue University-Main Campus | 48600 | 51200 | 0.0514 | 44,170 | 1327 | 0.4979 | |
| 30 | University of Minnesota Twin Cities | 53300 | 61000 | 0.1267 | 41,303 | 1338 | 0.7975 | |
| 31 | Texas A&M University-College Station | 54000 | 56100 | 0.038 | 60,710 | 1278 | 0.5732 | |
| 32 | Clemson University | 61500 | 63700 | 0.0335 | 23,401 | 1343 | 0.3834 |
School data is from 2022–2023 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.