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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 | Trinity College | 3800 | 92800 | 0.9594 | 2,204 | 1393 | 0.2925 | |
| 2 | Smith College | 5900 | 96800 | 0.9395 | 2,549 | 1477 | 0.21 | |
| 3 | Davidson College | 6000 | 89900 | 0.9332 | 1,869 | 1454 | 0.1337 | |
| 4 | Bates College | 6400 | 92900 | 0.9309 | 1,760 | 1469 | 0.1332 | |
| 4 | Swarthmore College | 6400 | 93800 | 0.9319 | 1,623 | 1520 | 0.0746 | |
| 6 | Amherst College | 6800 | 96200 | 0.9298 | 1,914 | 1514 | 0.0901 | |
| 7 | Bowdoin College | 8000 | 89900 | 0.9112 | 1,881 | 1505 | 0.0713 | |
| 7 | Brigham Young University | 8000 | 22000 | 0.6362 | 32,952 | 1374 | 0.6778 | |
| 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 | University of Pennsylvania | 9200 | 92900 | 0.9009 | 11,478 | 1536 | 0.054 | |
| 12 | Grinnell College | 9300 | 91400 | 0.8984 | 1,788 | 1462 | 0.1451 | |
| 13 | Pomona College | 9400 | 90100 | 0.8959 | 1,700 | 1520 | 0.0709 | |
| 13 | University of Richmond | 9400 | 88400 | 0.8938 | 3,055 | 1484 | 0.222 | |
| 13 | Washington and Lee University | 9400 | 96200 | 0.9025 | 1,886 | 1488 | 0.1397 | |
| 16 | Wellesley College | 9500 | 91300 | 0.8961 | 2,407 | 1500 | 0.1405 | |
| 17 | Haverford College | 9700 | 97600 | 0.9007 | 1,431 | 1499 | 0.1237 | |
| 18 | Colgate University | 10600 | 95800 | 0.889 | 3,193 | 1488 | 0.1388 | |
| 19 | Duke University | 10900 | 93600 | 0.8838 | 6,523 | 1527 | 0.0571 | |
| 19 | Pitzer College | 10900 | 94100 | 0.8843 | 1,242 | 1279 | 0.2516 | |
| 21 | Carleton College | 11300 | 74000 | 0.8471 | 2,128 | 1490 | 0.2041 | |
| 22 | Cornell University | 11500 | 93100 | 0.8767 | 16,128 | 1521 | 0.0876 | |
| 23 | Lafayette College | 11700 | 85800 | 0.8641 | 2,775 | 1427 | 0.3145 | |
| 24 | Vassar College | 12000 | 92400 | 0.8704 | 2,462 | 1499 | 0.1857 | |
| 25 | University of California-Merced | 12400 | 41900 | 0.7042 | 8,372 | 1070 | 0.9053 | |
| 26 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 12500 | 28100 | 0.5551 | 8,553 | 1045 | 0.8688 | |
| 27 | Albion College | 12700 | 75400 | 0.8321 | 1,308 | 1065 | 0.807 | |
| 28 | University of Michigan-Flint | 13000 | 46300 | 0.719 | 5,011 | 1109 | 0.7046 | |
| 29 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 13300 | 13300 | 0 | 18,288 | 1090 | 0.9068 | |
| 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 | Murray State University | 14900 | 27000 | 0.4491 | 7,851 | 1115 | 0.8568 | |
| 40 | Northeastern University | 15000 | 89900 | 0.8331 | 17,432 | 1490 | 0.0522 | |
| 40 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 15000 | 22400 | 0.3299 | 4,213 | 1124 | 0.8949 | |
| 42 | University of California-Irvine | 15100 | 38000 | 0.603 | 30,204 | 1333 | 0.2857 | |
| 43 | Macalester College | 15300 | 90100 | 0.8306 | 2,138 | 1425 | 0.2852 | |
| 44 | Kansas State University | 15800 | 26100 | 0.3962 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8169 | |
| 44 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 15800 | 38500 | 0.5888 | 37,140 | 1406 | 0.4237 | |
| 46 | University of California-Riverside | 15900 | 36500 | 0.564 | 22,600 | 1199 | 0.7639 | |
| 47 | University of Kansas | 16000 | 34900 | 0.5414 | 22,085 | 1176 | 0.9348 | |
| 48 | Whitman College | 17300 | 85500 | 0.798 | 1,561 | 1399 | 0.3815 | |
| 49 | Barnard College | 17600 | 99700 | 0.8232 | 3,487 | 1499 | 0.0884 | |
| 50 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 17900 | 37700 | 0.5256 | 20,591 | 1435 | 0.1407 | |
| 51 | Occidental College | 18400 | 89200 | 0.7941 | 1,881 | 1447 | 0.4417 | |
| 52 | University of Nevada-Reno | 19200 | 28200 | 0.3189 | 19,117 | 1134 | 0.7371 | |
| 53 | Loyola University New Orleans | 19900 | 72100 | 0.7238 | 3,007 | 1155 | 0.9305 | |
| 54 | University of Hawaii at Manoa | 20100 | 32300 | 0.3775 | 15,375 | 1103 | 0.866 | |
| 54 | University of Rochester | 20100 | 93100 | 0.7843 | 6,580 | 1462 | 0.4008 | |
| 56 | Stetson University | 20700 | 79100 | 0.7387 | 2,349 | 1179 | 0.716 | |
| 57 | Luther College | 21300 | 71900 | 0.7033 | 1,384 | 1226 | 0.7154 | |
| 58 | Niagara University | 21800 | 57400 | 0.62 | 2,692 | 1160 | 0.8737 | |
| 59 | Sterling College | 22100 | 53900 | 0.5901 | 670 | 1070 | 0.4817 | |
| 60 | Cottey College | 22300 | 37300 | 0.4025 | 254 | 991 | 0.6918 | |
| 61 | New York University | 22400 | 91800 | 0.7556 | 29,060 | 1520 | 0.0923 | |
| 62 | Lake Forest College | 22500 | 75400 | 0.7021 | 1,814 | 1323 | 0.5681 | |
| 63 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 22900 | 69800 | 0.6723 | 3,135 | 1307 | 0.5493 | |
| 64 | University of Central Missouri | 24300 | 35800 | 0.3222 | 7,584 | 1055 | 0.638 | |
| 65 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 24600 | 40500 | 0.3927 | 25,900 | 1375 | 0.5808 | |
| 66 | Wilson College | 24800 | 44400 | 0.442 | 1,379 | 1055 | 0.9211 | |
| 67 | Pennsylvania Western University | 24900 | 34400 | 0.2759 | 7,586 | 1045 | 0.9433 | |
| 68 | Western Kentucky University | 25900 | 41800 | 0.3803 | 14,151 | 970 | 0.9387 | |
| 69 | Earlham College | 26300 | 75800 | 0.6528 | 696 | 1233 | 0.7311 | |
| 70 | College of Coastal Georgia | 26600 | 36000 | 0.2612 | 3,468 | 1005 | 0.9813 | |
| 71 | University of North Georgia | 27400 | 38600 | 0.2905 | 18,322 | 1100 | 0.6794 | |
| 72 | Canisius University | 27700 | 54700 | 0.4939 | 1,724 | 1186 | 0.7236 | |
| 73 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27800 | 61400 | 0.5467 | 1,830 | 1164 | 0.7381 | |
| 73 | St. Francis College | 27800 | 39400 | 0.2948 | 1,719 | 1119 | 0.8427 | |
| 73 | 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 | Creighton University | 29200 | 68000 | 0.5709 | 4,377 | 1328 | 0.7975 | |
| 79 | Regis University | 29200 | 67200 | 0.5651 | 2,689 | 1222 | 0.8646 | |
| 81 | University of Toledo | 29300 | 32600 | 0.1006 | 11,013 | 1229 | 0.9202 | |
| 82 | Scripps College | 30400 | 94900 | 0.68 | 1,117 | 1475 | 0.3829 | |
| 83 | The College of Wooster | 30800 | 82400 | 0.627 | 1,738 | 1344 | 0.5953 | |
| 84 | University of North Florida | 31300 | 33000 | 0.0516 | 13,735 | 1150 | 0.5324 | |
| 85 | Berry College | 32600 | 60900 | 0.465 | 2,254 | 1219 | 0.64 | |
| 86 | University of Oregon | 33000 | 38600 | 0.1444 | 20,622 | 1250 | 0.883 | |
| 87 | LeTourneau University | 33900 | 54800 | 0.3817 | 3,187 | 1178 | 0.3801 | |
| 88 | Sacred Heart University | 34600 | 67500 | 0.4877 | 7,204 | 950 | 0.6536 | |
| 89 | New York Institute of Technology | 35400 | 83600 | 0.5769 | 3,646 | 1298 | 0.8102 | |
| 90 | Baldwin Wallace University | 35600 | 66100 | 0.4616 | 2,862 | 1203 | 0.757 | |
| 91 | Southern Nazarene University | 38000 | 48400 | 0.2144 | 1,456 | 0 | 0 | |
| 92 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 38400 | 53100 | 0.2767 | 30,564 | 1302 | 0.416 | |
| 93 | University of Charleston | 39200 | 51200 | 0.2342 | 2,348 | 1075 | 0.6152 | |
| 94 | Pace University | 40700 | 74800 | 0.4558 | 8,038 | 1260 | 0.7592 | |
| 95 | Oglethorpe University | 41800 | 68600 | 0.3906 | 1,396 | 1216 | 0.8845 | |
| 96 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43300 | 68600 | 0.3686 | 3,666 | 1224 | 0.577 | |
| 97 | Georgia College & State University | 45300 | 52400 | 0.1355 | 6,006 | 1165 | 0.7823 | |
| 98 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 48400 | 91400 | 0.4706 | 8,192 | 1451 | 0.1398 | |
| 98 | University of Delaware | 48400 | 61300 | 0.211 | 20,026 | 1294 | 0.706 | |
| 100 | Drexel University | 48600 | 83900 | 0.4208 | 13,309 | 1339 | 0.7944 | |
| 101 | University of Utah | 51400 | 53700 | 0.0425 | 28,064 | 1237 | 0.8598 | |
| 102 | Woodbury University | 52800 | 69500 | 0.2402 | 786 | 1087 | 0.8165 | |
| 103 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 60700 | 63000 | 0.0362 | 38,093 | 1302 | 0.7821 | |
| 104 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 61000 | 63200 | 0.0348 | 40,684 | 1331 | 0.3915 | |
| 105 | University of California-Davis | 69800 | 69800 | 0 | 32,273 | 1290 | 0.4183 | |
| 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.