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Best Civil Engineering Programs in Illinois (2026)

Updated

Part of Best Engineering Colleges in Illinois

This page ranks the 6 Civil Engineering programs in Illinois by median earnings of Civil Engineering graduates four years after completing. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ranks 1st on this list, reporting median earnings of $91,650 for its graduates four years after completing.

Across the listed programs, the figure ranges from $91,650 to $81,888, with a median of $84,885.

Of the 6 programs, 4 are public and 2 are private nonprofit. University of Illinois Chicago posts the lowest average net price on the page at $10,974, and University of Illinois Chicago ranks 17th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The ranked list

6 schools in list order
RankSchoolProgram EarningsAverage net priceNet price, families under $30KAdmission rate
1University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign · Champaign, IL$91,650$14,355$2,03842.4%
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign ranks 1st on this list, with median earnings of $91,650 for its Civil Engineering graduates four years after completing.
2Illinois Institute of Technology · Chicago, IL$87,884$18,425$12,96454.9%
Illinois Institute of Technology, a private nonprofit university in Chicago, reports median federal debt of $24,000 among Civil Engineering completers who borrowed.
3Southern Illinois University Edwardsville · Edwardsville, IL$85,969$14,889$8,48397.5%
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville admits 98% of applicants and posts median earnings of $85,969 for its Civil Engineering graduates four years after completing.
4Bradley University · Peoria, IL$83,801$22,719$17,26976.8%
Bradley University carries an average net price of $22,719 and median federal debt of $27,000 among Civil Engineering completers who borrowed.
5University of Illinois Chicago · Chicago, IL$83,680$10,974$7,52977.4%
University of Illinois Chicago ranks 17th on Azimuth's composite ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions and reports median earnings of $83,680 for its Civil Engineering graduates four years after completing.
6Southern Illinois University-Carbondale · Carbondale, IL$81,888$13,297$9,41586.9%
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale shows an average net price of $13,297 and median federal debt of $19,313 among Civil Engineering completers who borrowed.

How this list is ordered

Programs are ordered by the median earnings of their Civil Engineering graduates four years after completing, highest first. Only programs with a reported earnings cohort in Illinois appear. The figures are medians for federally aided Civil Engineering completers who were working and not enrolled four years after completing. The metric does not adjust for graduate school enrollment, cost, or who enrolls, and it is not a measure of teaching quality. The gap between University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Illinois Institute of Technology is $3,766, and the spread from the top of the list to the bottom is $9,762.

Job market context in Illinois

Graduates of Civil Engineering programs in Illinois enter a labor market that links to occupations such as Civil Engineers and Engineers, All Other. The median annual wage across those occupations is $101,827, and a quarter of workers in those occupations earn less than $79,872. Projections for 2024 to 2034 put employment in those occupations about 4.3% higher, with 1,680 projected openings a year, or about 402 openings a year for every hundred graduates, suggesting more projected openings than graduates. Wages and top occupations exclude management occupations; openings include them. These market figures describe the occupations, not the earnings of any particular program; the ranking above uses the median earnings of Civil Engineering graduates four years after completing.

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