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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 | 4500 | 92800 | 0.9518 | 2,237 | 1393 | 0.3352 | |
| 2 | Pomona College | 5600 | 90000 | 0.9375 | 1,766 | 1520 | 0.0709 | |
| 3 | Smith College | 5700 | 96700 | 0.9415 | 2,549 | 1477 | 0.21 | |
| 4 | Amherst College | 5800 | 96100 | 0.9401 | 1,914 | 1514 | 0.0901 | |
| 5 | Davidson College | 6000 | 89900 | 0.933 | 1,869 | 1454 | 0.1337 | |
| 6 | Swarthmore College | 6400 | 93800 | 0.9319 | 1,623 | 1520 | 0.0746 | |
| 7 | Colgate University | 6900 | 95700 | 0.9274 | 3,193 | 1488 | 0.1388 | |
| 8 | Bowdoin College | 7000 | 89900 | 0.9224 | 1,881 | 1505 | 0.0713 | |
| 9 | Brigham Young University | 8000 | 28600 | 0.7211 | 32,221 | 1374 | 0.6919 | |
| 10 | University of Pennsylvania | 8100 | 92900 | 0.913 | 10,013 | 1528 | 0.054 | |
| 11 | Columbia University in the City of New York | 8400 | 98000 | 0.9146 | 9,157 | 1535 | 0.0386 | |
| 12 | Grinnell College | 9300 | 91400 | 0.8984 | 1,788 | 1462 | 0.1451 | |
| 13 | Washington and Lee University | 9400 | 96000 | 0.9024 | 1,886 | 1488 | 0.1397 | |
| 14 | University of California-Irvine | 9600 | 42100 | 0.7714 | 30,204 | 1333 | 0.2878 | |
| 15 | Lake Forest College | 9900 | 75400 | 0.8693 | 1,814 | 1323 | 0.5681 | |
| 16 | Haverford College | 10100 | 97600 | 0.8966 | 1,431 | 1499 | 0.1237 | |
| 17 | University of California-Davis | 10200 | 38500 | 0.7358 | 32,273 | 1290 | 0.4183 | |
| 18 | Wellesley College | 10400 | 91300 | 0.8862 | 2,407 | 1500 | 0.1405 | |
| 19 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus | 10600 | 36400 | 0.7094 | 40,754 | 1391 | 0.3915 | |
| 20 | Bates College | 10800 | 91900 | 0.8823 | 1,760 | 1438 | 0.1332 | |
| 20 | Hamilton College | 10800 | 89000 | 0.8783 | 2,037 | 1499 | 0.1362 | |
| 22 | Pitzer College | 11000 | 94100 | 0.8833 | 1,242 | 1279 | 0.2516 | |
| 23 | University of California-Merced | 11100 | 39600 | 0.7189 | 8,372 | 1070 | 0.9152 | |
| 23 | Vassar College | 11100 | 92600 | 0.8802 | 2,462 | 1499 | 0.1857 | |
| 25 | Middlebury College | 11300 | 89900 | 0.8746 | 2,760 | 1499 | 0.1075 | |
| 26 | Duke University | 11400 | 93600 | 0.8784 | 6,523 | 1539 | 0.0571 | |
| 27 | Lafayette College | 11800 | 85800 | 0.8629 | 2,775 | 1427 | 0.3145 | |
| 27 | Northeastern State University | 11800 | 22900 | 0.4838 | 5,085 | 1035 | 0.9935 | |
| 29 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 12200 | 41900 | 0.7083 | 37,140 | 1442 | 0.4237 | |
| 30 | Carleton College | 12300 | 74000 | 0.8334 | 2,128 | 1492 | 0.2041 | |
| 30 | St Olaf College | 12300 | 75900 | 0.838 | 3,124 | 1378 | 0.4832 | |
| 32 | Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville | 12700 | 34600 | 0.6336 | 8,975 | 1045 | 0.9721 | |
| 33 | Northern Illinois University | 13200 | 29000 | 0.5434 | 11,349 | 1070 | 0.6979 | |
| 33 | University of North Alabama | 13200 | 30800 | 0.5707 | 8,078 | 1124 | 0.7054 | |
| 35 | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee | 13300 | 13300 | 0 | 18,428 | 1090 | 0.9529 | |
| 36 | Denison University | 13500 | 69300 | 0.8057 | 2,406 | 1383 | 0.1693 | |
| 37 | Union College | 14100 | 92400 | 0.8473 | 2,065 | 1393 | 0.4392 | |
| 38 | University of California-Riverside | 14200 | 66000 | 0.7853 | 22,599 | 1199 | 0.7685 | |
| 38 | University of North Florida | 14200 | 22400 | 0.3665 | 13,735 | 1150 | 0.5324 | |
| 40 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 14300 | 28100 | 0.4911 | 8,553 | 1054 | 0.8688 | |
| 41 | Trinity University | 14500 | 94400 | 0.8461 | 2,518 | 1402 | 0.2592 | |
| 42 | Stanford University | 14700 | 71200 | 0.7934 | 7,904 | 1535 | 0.0361 | |
| 43 | University of Central Missouri | 14900 | 25400 | 0.4125 | 7,584 | 1055 | 0.638 | |
| 44 | Northeastern University | 15100 | 89900 | 0.832 | 22,695 | 1490 | 0.0522 | |
| 45 | Macalester College | 15200 | 90000 | 0.8308 | 2,144 | 1417 | 0.2852 | |
| 45 | University of North Georgia | 15200 | 48000 | 0.6836 | 18,329 | 1100 | 0.6794 | |
| 47 | University of Nebraska at Kearney | 15400 | 22400 | 0.3121 | 4,214 | 1090 | 0.8949 | |
| 48 | Albion College | 15500 | 93700 | 0.8346 | 1,308 | 1065 | 0.807 | |
| 49 | University of Kansas | 16700 | 37100 | 0.5503 | 22,085 | 1176 | 0.9348 | |
| 50 | Barnard College | 17600 | 99700 | 0.8232 | 3,269 | 1490 | 0.0796 | |
| 51 | Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus | 17900 | 30400 | 0.4118 | 20,592 | 1435 | 0.1407 | |
| 52 | Whitman College | 18000 | 85500 | 0.7898 | 1,561 | 1399 | 0.3815 | |
| 53 | Occidental College | 18400 | 89200 | 0.7941 | 1,881 | 1447 | 0.4417 | |
| 54 | Lee University | 18500 | 37400 | 0.5057 | 3,271 | 1154 | 0.7052 | |
| 55 | University of Nevada-Reno | 19300 | 27700 | 0.3034 | 18,895 | 1134 | 0.7371 | |
| 56 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 19700 | 75200 | 0.7382 | 3,135 | 1299 | 0.5493 | |
| 57 | Niagara University | 19800 | 57400 | 0.6548 | 2,692 | 970 | 0.3972 | |
| 58 | University of Rochester | 20200 | 93100 | 0.7833 | 6,580 | 1469 | 0.4008 | |
| 59 | Georgia College & State University | 20300 | 52400 | 0.6125 | 6,006 | 1155 | 0.8779 | |
| 60 | Kansas State University | 20500 | 31400 | 0.3489 | 15,650 | 1164 | 0.8199 | |
| 61 | Loyola University New Orleans | 20700 | 72100 | 0.7127 | 3,032 | 1145 | 0.9305 | |
| 62 | Luther College | 21400 | 71900 | 0.7025 | 1,384 | 1226 | 0.8402 | |
| 63 | Pennsylvania Western University | 21600 | 28200 | 0.2344 | 7,586 | 1070 | 0.9433 | |
| 64 | Cottey College | 21800 | 37300 | 0.4157 | 261 | 1090 | 0.7023 | |
| 65 | New York University | 21900 | 91800 | 0.7612 | 29,060 | 1520 | 0.0923 | |
| 66 | Sterling College | 22200 | 64300 | 0.6547 | 670 | 1090 | 0.8916 | |
| 67 | Murray State University | 22900 | 27600 | 0.1707 | 8,281 | 1124 | 0.8568 | |
| 68 | Regis University | 23600 | 67200 | 0.6484 | 2,704 | 1199 | 0.8639 | |
| 69 | Wilson College | 24800 | 44400 | 0.4412 | 1,180 | 1040 | 0.9532 | |
| 70 | Westminster University | 26000 | 81400 | 0.6807 | 842 | 1233 | 0.6657 | |
| 71 | St. Francis College | 26300 | 39400 | 0.3329 | 1,934 | 1035 | 0.8153 | |
| 72 | Earlham College | 26400 | 75800 | 0.6521 | 696 | 1233 | 0.7311 | |
| 73 | College of Coastal Georgia | 26600 | 42100 | 0.3678 | 3,468 | 985 | 0.9813 | |
| 74 | Canisius University | 27700 | 64800 | 0.5729 | 1,724 | 1129 | 0.7224 | |
| 75 | Mount St. Mary's University | 27900 | 61400 | 0.5464 | 1,833 | 1164 | 0.7381 | |
| 76 | Creighton University | 28000 | 65300 | 0.5709 | 4,647 | 1328 | 0.7975 | |
| 77 | Knox College | 28600 | 68900 | 0.5846 | 1,136 | 1287 | 0.7079 | |
| 78 | Montclair State University | 29500 | 36300 | 0.1874 | 18,712 | 1058 | 0.8789 | |
| 79 | Gannon University | 30400 | 52900 | 0.4257 | 2,768 | 1174 | 0.7416 | |
| 80 | The College of Wooster | 30800 | 82400 | 0.626 | 1,738 | 1344 | 0.5953 | |
| 81 | Southern Nazarene University | 32100 | 48400 | 0.3367 | 1,465 | 1055 | 0.7703 | |
| 82 | The University of Tennessee-Knoxville | 32400 | 35100 | 0.077 | 30,564 | 1298 | 0.416 | |
| 83 | LeTourneau University | 34000 | 54800 | 0.3798 | 3,184 | 1178 | 0.3801 | |
| 84 | Scripps College | 34200 | 94900 | 0.6399 | 1,117 | 1475 | 0.3829 | |
| 85 | Pace University | 34600 | 74800 | 0.5373 | 8,038 | 1274 | 0.7592 | |
| 86 | Agnes Scott College | 35200 | 69200 | 0.4911 | 843 | 1273 | 0.6215 | |
| 87 | New York Institute of Technology | 35400 | 83600 | 0.5761 | 3,355 | 1235 | 0.7808 | |
| 88 | Baldwin Wallace University | 35800 | 66700 | 0.4634 | 2,862 | 1194 | 0.757 | |
| 89 | Western Kentucky University | 36600 | 42300 | 0.1348 | 14,151 | 1090 | 0.9387 | |
| 90 | Oglethorpe University | 41900 | 68600 | 0.3895 | 1,361 | 1216 | 0.886 | |
| 91 | University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus | 42600 | 54700 | 0.2212 | 20,418 | 1375 | 0.5808 | |
| 92 | Sacred Heart University | 42800 | 67500 | 0.3662 | 6,960 | 1245 | 0.6768 | |
| 93 | Florida Institute of Technology | 43400 | 68600 | 0.3675 | 3,677 | 1224 | 0.577 | |
| 94 | University of Delaware | 47600 | 61300 | 0.2245 | 19,119 | 1303 | 0.6356 | |
| 95 | Tulane University of Louisiana | 48500 | 92100 | 0.4736 | 7,283 | 1451 | 0.1398 | |
| 96 | Drexel University | 48700 | 83800 | 0.4188 | 13,169 | 1339 | 0.7944 | |
| 97 | University of Utah | 51500 | 53700 | 0.0411 | 28,064 | 1237 | 0.8598 | |
| 98 | Indiana University-Bloomington | 60800 | 63000 | 0.035 | 38,093 | 1302 | 0.7821 | |
| 99 | University of Oregon | 66700 | 68900 | 0.032 | 20,622 | 1250 | 0.883 | |
| 100 | University of California-Berkeley | 70600 | 75900 | 0.0698 | 33,469 | 1407 | 0.1104 |
School data is from 2022–2023 (top 500 results shown) for schools with at least 100 undergraduate students.