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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 | Davidson College | 2800 | 95600 | 0.9704 | 1,860 | 1463 | 0.1262 | |
| 2 | Trinity College | 3900 | 92800 | 0.9575 | 2,112 | 1404 | 0.2953 | |
| 3 | University of Pennsylvania | 4600 | 93100 | 0.951 | 9,989 | 1535 | 0.0492 | |
| 4 | Amherst College | 5600 | 99300 | 0.9433 | 1,907 | 1500 | 0.0772 | |
| 5 | Bowdoin College | 6600 | 96700 | 0.9316 | 1,841 | 1499 | 0.0681 | |
| 6 | University of Richmond | 6700 | 92700 | 0.9273 | 3,052 | 1472 | 0.2224 | |
| 7 | Pomona College | 6900 | 93700 | 0.9264 | 1,721 | 1499 | 0.0714 | |
| 7 | Smith College | 6900 | 97700 | 0.9293 | 2,578 | 1466 | 0.2241 | |
| 9 | Swarthmore College | 7200 | 94600 | 0.9241 | 1,631 | 1513 | 0.0752 | |
| 10 | Lafayette College | 7800 | 91000 | 0.9138 | 2,675 | 1415 | 0.3116 | |
| 11 | Brigham Young University | 8000 | 22200 | 0.6405 | 34,354 | 1374 | 0.6862 | |
| 12 | Columbia University in the City of New York | 8600 | 98000 | 0.9125 | 9,164 | 1535 | 0.0386 | |
| 13 | Middlebury College | 8700 | 94500 | 0.908 | 2,640 | 1499 | 0.1277 | |
| 14 | Bates College | 8900 | 92900 | 0.9041 | 1,736 | 1412 | 0.1483 | |
| 15 | Grinnell College | 9000 | 93600 | 0.9035 | 1,668 | 1469 | 0.1605 | |
| 16 | Colgate University | 9200 | 95800 | 0.9039 | 3,193 | 1488 | 0.1388 | |
| 16 | Washington and Lee University | 9200 | 96300 | 0.9041 | 1,916 | 1484 | 0.1354 | |
| 18 | Haverford College | 9500 | 101400 | 0.9063 | 1,420 | 1490 | 0.1331 | |
| 19 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 10100 | 41500 | 0.7567 | 8,945 | 1099 | 0.975 | |
| 20 | University of California-Merced | 10200 | 40600 | 0.7491 | 8,234 | 1070 | 0.9704 | |
| 21 | Western Kentucky University | 10300 | 27500 | 0.6258 | 13,732 | 1090 | 0.9145 | |
| 22 | Wellesley College | 10400 | 95400 | 0.8905 | 2,366 | 1499 | 0.1479 | |
| 23 | Cornell University | 10500 | 93700 | 0.8878 | 16,138 | 1528 | 0.0838 | |
| 24 | University of Rochester | 10600 | 96300 | 0.8903 | 6,096 | 1448 | 0.4191 | |
| 25 | Carleton College | 10800 | 74000 | 0.8536 | 1,974 | 1492 | 0.2178 | |
| 25 | St Olaf College | 10800 | 79500 | 0.8641 | 3,114 | 1374 | 0.4338 | |
| 27 | Pitzer College | 12000 | 94400 | 0.8731 | 1,193 | 1279 | 0.2685 | |
| 27 | Vassar College | 12000 | 93100 | 0.8712 | 2,514 | 1488 | 0.2093 | |
| 29 | University of Illinois Chicago | 12200 | 30200 | 0.5969 | 24,260 | 1174 | 0.7576 | |
| 30 | Albion College | 12600 | 109600 | 0.8849 | 1,168 | 1065 | 0.7437 | |
| 31 | Colorado College | 12800 | 98000 | 0.869 | 1,887 | 1357 | 0.2209 | |
| 31 | Hamilton College | 12800 | 98000 | 0.8694 | 1,980 | 1484 | 0.1359 | |
| 33 | University of North Florida | 13200 | 30500 | 0.5671 | 14,837 | 1124 | 0.6815 | |
| 33 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 13200 | 27400 | 0.519 | 18,667 | 1090 | 0.9711 | |
| 35 | Northern Illinois University | 13300 | 32100 | 0.5856 | 12,118 | 1070 | 0.7164 | |
| 36 | Denison University | 13500 | 69300 | 0.8051 | 2,458 | 1366 | 0.1955 | |
| 36 | Trinity University | 13500 | 67000 | 0.7982 | 2,423 | 1408 | 0.2488 | |
| 36 | University of California-Riverside | 13500 | 36500 | 0.6297 | 24,034 | 1199 | 0.8609 | |
| 39 | University of North Alabama | 13700 | 28200 | 0.5145 | 8,078 | 1124 | 0.7054 | |
| 40 | Murray State University | 14600 | 27000 | 0.4597 | 8,217 | 1124 | 0.8413 | |
| 41 | University of California-Irvine | 14800 | 40400 | 0.6341 | 30,260 | 1333 | 0.2895 | |
| 42 | Stanford University | 14900 | 1932000 | 0.9923 | 7,346 | 1542 | 0.038 | |
| 43 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 15000 | 54400 | 0.7248 | 15,735 | 1069 | 0.8797 | |
| 43 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 15000 | 26300 | 0.4293 | 4,056 | 1090 | 0.4151 | |
| 45 | Macalester College | 15300 | 94800 | 0.8382 | 2,068 | 1415 | 0.2813 | |
| 46 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 15600 | 74500 | 0.7908 | 3,190 | 1317 | 0.6187 | |
| 47 | Duke University | 15800 | 98600 | 0.8396 | 6,525 | 1533 | 0.0524 | |
| 48 | Niagara University | 15900 | 57400 | 0.7227 | 2,638 | 1170 | 0.876 | |
| 49 | Northeastern State University | 16200 | 28600 | 0.4343 | 5,145 | 1035 | 0.9974 | |
| 50 | Union College | 16500 | 93300 | 0.8231 | 1,954 | 1399 | 0.4342 | |
| 51 | Whitman College | 17400 | 85500 | 0.796 | 1,468 | 1397 | 0.4016 | |
| 52 | Barnard College | 17500 | 99700 | 0.8241 | 3,223 | 1499 | 0.1005 | |
| 53 | Northeastern University | 17900 | 90000 | 0.801 | 22,456 | 1481 | 0.0562 | |
| 54 | Georgia College & State University | 18300 | 18300 | 0 | 6,250 | 1165 | 0.8466 | |
| 55 | Occidental College | 18400 | 96300 | 0.8086 | 1,822 | 1440 | 0.4485 | |
| 56 | Pennsylvania Western University | 19700 | 30900 | 0.3627 | 7,586 | 1045 | 0.9433 | |
| 57 | Cottey College | 20300 | 37300 | 0.4571 | 261 | 991 | 0.7023 | |
| 58 | College of Coastal Georgia | 20800 | 51600 | 0.5967 | 3,609 | 1005 | 0.9885 | |
| 59 | Luther College | 21300 | 75400 | 0.7183 | 1,384 | 1226 | 0.8398 | |
| 60 | Stetson University | 21700 | 81100 | 0.7327 | 2,414 | 1089 | 0.7167 | |
| 61 | University of Kansas | 21900 | 37600 | 0.4188 | 22,544 | 1176 | 0.9258 | |
| 62 | Sterling College | 22200 | 77400 | 0.7139 | 649 | 1103 | 0.8759 | |
| 63 | University of Central Missouri | 24000 | 35800 | 0.3301 | 10,397 | 1055 | 0.7439 | |
| 64 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 24200 | 40500 | 0.4025 | 21,388 | 1369 | 0.5945 | |
| 65 | Wilson College | 24600 | 44400 | 0.4452 | 1,379 | 1055 | 0.9211 | |
| 66 | Lake Forest College | 24800 | 75400 | 0.6716 | 1,786 | 1304 | 0.5363 | |
| 67 | Earlham College | 26100 | 75800 | 0.6554 | 670 | 1237 | 0.7904 | |
| 68 | St. Francis College | 26900 | 39400 | 0.3177 | 1,719 | 1035 | 1 | |
| 69 | Creighton University | 27700 | 67900 | 0.5918 | 4,833 | 1328 | 0.9216 | |
| 70 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27800 | 61400 | 0.5468 | 1,804 | 1159 | 0.7258 | |
| 71 | Knox College | 28200 | 68900 | 0.5904 | 1,108 | 1274 | 0.772 | |
| 72 | New York University | 29000 | 92100 | 0.6851 | 29,471 | 1520 | 0.0906 | |
| 73 | Canisius University | 30000 | 54700 | 0.4518 | 1,728 | 1186 | 0.7323 | |
| 74 | Scripps College | 30100 | 97800 | 0.6921 | 1,103 | 1472 | 0.3988 | |
| 75 | University of Toledo | 30400 | 42000 | 0.2756 | 10,726 | 1134 | 0.8889 | |
| 76 | The College of Wooster | 30600 | 82400 | 0.6292 | 1,515 | 1345 | 0.6438 | |
| 77 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 31100 | 50300 | 0.3816 | 21,028 | 1450 | 0.1334 | |
| 78 | Southern Nazarene University | 31800 | 48400 | 0.3442 | 1,473 | 1055 | 1 | |
| 78 | Westminster University | 31800 | 94100 | 0.6623 | 868 | 1205 | 0.6513 | |
| 80 | Pace University | 33800 | 75700 | 0.5538 | 5,520 | 1273 | 0.7827 | |
| 81 | Berry College | 34400 | 62400 | 0.4488 | 2,262 | 1219 | 0.7315 | |
| 82 | University of Nevada-Reno | 34700 | 45800 | 0.2425 | 20,204 | 1109 | 0.8313 | |
| 83 | New York Institute of Technology | 35100 | 83600 | 0.5799 | 3,646 | 1298 | 0.8102 | |
| 84 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 35900 | 54000 | 0.3352 | 32,041 | 1324 | 0.4358 | |
| 85 | Agnes Scott College | 36300 | 71200 | 0.49 | 731 | 1219 | 0.6353 | |
| 86 | Loyola University New Orleans | 36900 | 74600 | 0.5052 | 2,871 | 1150 | 0.9058 | |
| 87 | Baldwin Wallace University | 39000 | 69800 | 0.4415 | 2,532 | 1210 | 0.7739 | |
| 88 | University of Charleston | 39200 | 51200 | 0.2342 | 2,348 | 1075 | 0.5975 | |
| 89 | Drexel University | 39700 | 86400 | 0.5408 | 12,318 | 1354 | 0.699 | |
| 90 | Kansas State University | 40900 | 41900 | 0.0239 | 16,555 | 1163 | 0.875 | |
| 91 | Oglethorpe University | 41500 | 68600 | 0.3948 | 1,338 | 1205 | 0.898 | |
| 92 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43200 | 68700 | 0.3719 | 4,279 | 1234 | 0.5796 | |
| 93 | Texas Christian University | 44300 | 87400 | 0.4934 | 11,152 | 1268 | 0.4809 | |
| 94 | LeTourneau University | 44600 | 57300 | 0.2215 | 2,903 | 1242 | 0.4879 | |
| 95 | University of Delaware | 47700 | 62400 | 0.2365 | 19,287 | 1302 | 0.6924 | |
| 96 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 49300 | 67600 | 0.2708 | 40,996 | 1399 | 0.4175 | |
| 97 | Sacred Heart University | 49700 | 67500 | 0.2637 | 7,291 | 1265 | 0.6363 | |
| 98 | University of North Georgia | 50100 | 57000 | 0.121 | 19,321 | 1100 | 0.9618 | |
| 99 | Woodbury University | 50700 | 69500 | 0.2704 | 725 | 1087 | 0.7143 | |
| 100 | University of Utah | 51100 | 53700 | 0.0478 | 29,335 | 1222 | 0.9015 | |
| 101 | University of California-Berkeley | 51700 | 76600 | 0.325 | 33,513 | 1407 | 0.1145 | |
| 102 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 53400 | 96100 | 0.4442 | 6,839 | 1469 | 0.1446 | |
| 103 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 54900 | 68800 | 0.2022 | 38,572 | 1455 | 0.3659 | |
| 104 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 60400 | 63000 | 0.0407 | 38,463 | 1324 | 0.7589 | |
| 105 | University of California-Davis | 68100 | 69900 | 0.0258 | 31,695 | 1290 | 0.4435 | |
| 106 | University of Oregon | 68700 | 71300 | 0.036 | 20,710 | 1193 | 0.8742 |
School data is from 2023–2024 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.