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2023 Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Prices
Today's trade school students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Trade College Search has created the Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 59 schools in Illinois to see which programs offered the best value experiences for trade school students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.
When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
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Top Value Trade Schools in Illinois
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found John A Logan College to be the best value school for trade school students in Illinois. John A Logan College is a small public school situated in Carterville, Illinois. It awarded 720 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at John A Logan College are $7,370 per year.
The excellent programs at Kaskaskia College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value trade schools in Illinois. Centralia, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 842 students in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kaskaskia College are $12,330 per year.
Out of the 59 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Highland Community College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in Freeport, Illinois, the small public school awarded 602 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Highland Community College are $7,048 a year.
A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Lincoln Land Community College is a great place for trade school students who want to get the most value for their educational dollar. Located in Springfield, Illinois, the small public school handed out 1,623 degrees in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at LLCC are $10,068 a year.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend College of Lake County. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois list. Grayslake, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 4,149 students in 2021-2022.
College of Lake County undergraduate students pay an average of $13,118 in tuition and fees each year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, College of Lake County also is in the top 20% of our Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking.
Oakton Community College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois ranking. Oakton Community College is a medium-sized public school located in Des Plaines, Illinois that handed out 1,875 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Oakton Community College are $12,462 per year.
On top of its placing in our value ranking, Oakton Community College also did well on our Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. It’s in the top 10% of all schools reviewed in this analysis.
Rend Lake College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Ina, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 1,245 students in 2021-2022.
Rend Lake College undergraduate students pay an average of $7,200 in tuition and fees each year.
William Rainey Harper College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in Palatine, Illinois, the fairly large public school awarded 4,419 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Harper College are $11,754 a year.
In addition to its great value ranking, Harper College is in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Trade Schools in Illinois list.
Black Hawk College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois ranking. BHC is located in Moline, Illinois and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 848 degrees to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at BHC are $8,100 per year.
Elgin Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for trade school students. It came in at #10 on the list. ECC is a medium-sized public school situated in Elgin, Illinois. It awarded 2,201 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at ECC are $9,516 per year.
Rock Valley College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois list. Rock Valley College is a medium-sized public school located in Rockford, Illinois that handed out 1,630 degrees in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Rock Valley College are $20,384 a year.
Southwestern Illinois College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value places for trade school students. It came in at #12 on the list. SWIC is a medium-sized public school situated in Belleville, Illinois. It awarded 2,480 degrees in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at SWIC are $6,210 a year.
Carl Sandburg College landed the #13 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Carl Sandburg College is a public institution located in Galesburg, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 512 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Carl Sandburg College are $8,760 per year.
Lake Land College landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Lake Land College is located in Mattoon, Illinois and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 2,244 degrees to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Lake Land College are $13,905 per year.
Morton College came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois ranking. This small public school is located in Cicero, Illinois, and it awarded 622 degrees in 2021-2022.
Morton College undergraduate students pay an average of $10,900 in tuition and fees each year.
Moraine Valley Community College came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois ranking. MVCC is a fairly large public school situated in Palos Hills, Illinois. It awarded 5,228 degrees in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at MVCC are $9,630 a year.
Rasmussen University - Illinois landed the #17 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Rasmussen University - Illinois is a private for-profit institution located in Rockford, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1,312 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Rasmussen University - Illinois are $14,294 per year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Rasmussen University - Illinois is ranked #5 for overall quality in Illinois.
Waubonsee Community College ranked #18 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois list. Waubonsee is located in Sugar Grove, Illinois and has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 1,564 degrees to qualified students.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Waubonsee are $11,496 a year.
DeVry University - Illinois landed the #19 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. This large private for-profit school is located in Naperville, Illinois, and it awarded 9,399 degrees in 2021-2022.
DeVry University - Illinois undergraduate students pay an average of $15,032 in tuition and fees each year.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, DeVry University - Illinois is ranked #4 for overall quality in Illinois.
Illinois Central College landed the #20 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Located in East Peoria, Illinois, the medium-sized public school handed out 1,931 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at ICC are $11,336 per year.
Illinois State University landed the #21 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Located in Normal, Illinois, the large public school handed out 5,654 degrees in 2021-2022.
Illinois State undergraduate students pay an average of $23,209 in tuition and fees each year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Illinois State also is in the top 15% of our Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking.
Kishwaukee College ranked #22 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois list. Kishwaukee College is a public institution located in Malta, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 791 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Kishwaukee College are $13,800 per year.
Prairie State College ranked #23 on this year’s Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois list. Prairie State College is a small public school located in Chicago Heights, Illinois that handed out 658 degrees in 2021-2022.
The average tuition and fees for an out-of-state undergraduate students at Prairie State College are $11,064 a year.
City Colleges of Chicago - Malcolm X College came in at #24 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Trade School Schools in Illinois ranking. Malcolm X College is located in Chicago, Illinois and has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 1,666 degrees to qualified students.
Out-of-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Malcolm X College are $14,430 per year.
Read full report on City Colleges of Chicago - Malcolm X College
Richland Community College landed the #25 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value trade school programs. Located in Decatur, Illinois, the small public school awarded 806 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
Richland Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $17,070 in tuition and fees each year.
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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