2026 Expensive Illinois Colleges To Attend Rankings
Among Illinois colleges, University of Chicago has the most expensive tuition & fees ($69,324) and Northwestern University has the second highest tuition & fees ($68,322) based on academic year 2024-2025 college costs data.
Below table ranks and compares the Expensive Illinois Colleges To Attend having expensive tuition & fees (based on undergraduate rate). For the ranking, we only include 4-year colleges that more than 1,500 students have enrolled in.
Expensive Illinois Colleges To Attend
| Rank | College Name | Undergraduate Tuition & Fees | Graduate Tuition & Fees | SAT Score | Acceptance Rate | Population | Graduation Rate | Student to Faculty Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL | $69,324 | $68,652 | 1,550 | 4.5% | 18,566 | 96% | 5 to 1 |
| 2 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL | $68,322 | $54,655 | 1,540 | 7.7% | 23,856 | 95% | 6 to 1 |
| 3 | Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL | $57,704 | - | 1,240 | 39.3% | 1,582 | 75% | 12 to 1 |
| 4 | Lake Forest College Lake Forest, IL | $56,402 | $16,880 | 1,320 | 56.8% | 1,837 | 78% | 13 to 1 |
| 5 | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL | $54,623 | $49,649 | - | 77.5% | 3,394 | 67% | 10 to 1 |
| 6 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL | $53,710 | $21,912 | 1,260 | 81.6% | 17,384 | 73% | 13 to 1 |
| 7 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL | $52,202 | $35,222 | 1,300 | 54.9% | 8,834 | 75% | 14 to 1 |
| 8 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL | $51,598 | $35,010 | 1,150 | 62.7% | 2,570 | 73% | 12 to 1 |
| 9 | Midwestern University-Downers Grove Downers Grove, IL | $47,256 | $48,006 | - | - | 2,567 | - | - |
| 10 | North Central College Naperville, IL | $45,726 | $15,922 | 1,190 | 77.3% | 3,003 | 64% | 12 to 1 |
Qualified Illinois Colleges in Core Admission Stats
