Cost of College in Illinois
What does college cost in Illinois?
In-state public tuition and fees average $13,492 (rank 42 of 51), out-of-state $18,988, private nonprofit $33,749. The all-in four-year in-state public total is about $111,690. The least expensive public option is Governors State University at $11,320.
Average charges, four-year totals, named institutional extremes, and flagship net prices for Illinois, computed from the federal IPEDS file.
Updated October 22, 2026
Illinois is one of the expensive states for public college: average in-state tuition and fees of $13,492 rank 42 of 51 jurisdictions, 28% above the national average of $10,525. All figures on this page are computed from the federal IPEDS file for Illinois: 12 public and 73 private nonprofit four-year institutions, charges for academic year 2023-24, net prices for 2022-23. Living allowances (room, board, books) are the averages institutions report for their own budgets; the guide to what cost of attendance includes explains each component.
| Average annual charge, Illinois four-year institutions (IPEDS 2023-24) | Public in-state | Public out-of-state | Private nonprofit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tuition and fees | $13,492 | $18,988 | $33,749 |
| Housing and food (school-reported average) | $11,963 | $11,963 | $12,666 |
| Books and supplies | $1,242 | $1,242 | $1,242 |
| Four-year total at 3% annual increases | $111,690 | $134,684 | $199,379 |
Compare the two public prices before anything else in Illinois: residents face $13,492 of average tuition and fees; nonresidents face $18,988. The $5,496 annual gap, about 1.4 times the resident price, is larger than the entire average book, transport, and personal budget combined, which is why exchange programs and merit offers aimed at nonresidents deserve a full evening of any out-of-state applicant's research time.
How Illinois compares
Measured against its own median state ($9,813 of in-state tuition and fees), Illinois at $13,492 is 28% above the middle of the country as well as its mean. And its internal range is wide: $11,320 at Governors State University up to $18,060 at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. A state average is a summary; these two named endpoints are the prices at which actual Illinois students actually enroll.
Net price at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
The flagship test shows what aid does to the sticker at the state's best-known institution, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign. Its published in-state tuition and fees are $18,060, yet the median net price paid by aided first-year students overall is $14,297, and by family income the schedule runs:
| Family income | Median net price at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |
|---|---|
| Up to $30,000 | $3,883 |
| $30,001-$48,000 | $5,955 |
| $48,001-$75,000 | $10,065 |
| $75,001-$110,000 | $20,205 |
| Over $110,000 | $28,358 |
The shape of that schedule is the institution's aid policy in one column: the lowest-income students pay $3,883, the highest-income pay $28,358, a ratio of 7.3 to 1. A steep schedule (high ratio) means the flagship spends heavily to pull low-income students in and charges affluent families nearer the sticker; a flat one means aid is spread thin or merit-driven. Illinois families should read their own bracket's figure as the flagship's realistic price and the sticker as its ceiling, then repeat the exercise for the other schools on their list using each school's mandated net price calculator.
The four-year view in Illinois
One more computation belongs in every Illinois family's notebook: the private-public gap across a full degree. Private tuition and fees average $33,749 here against the public $13,492, and across four years with living costs the private total reaches $199,379 versus $111,690 in-state public. Grant aid narrows that gap substantially for lower-income families, per the flagship schedule below, but for families in the upper brackets the sticker gap is close to the real gap, and it is the size of a house down payment in most Illinois housing markets.
The flagship numbers also discipline expectations for the rest of the state. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign typically commands the largest aid budget per student among Illinois publics; regional campuses discount less deeply, so their nets for the same income sit closer to their (also lower) stickers. A family whose flagship estimate disappoints should not assume the system has nothing for them: at the regional price level, a smaller discount on a smaller sticker can produce the smaller net, which is the only figure that was ever real.
Finally, read the averages with the landscape in mind: Illinois's public average of $13,492 blends a flagship at $18,060 (1.3 times the average) with regional campuses far below it, and its private average of $33,749 blends institutions of very different aid wealth. Averages open the conversation; the named institutions on this page, cheapest, flagship, and most expensive, are where a family's actual decision gets made, and each publishes the net price calculator that turns this page's ranges into their number.
Ways Illinois students lower the published bill
Residents of Illinois should also price the private bench before concluding anything: the state's 73 private nonprofits average $33,749 of tuition before their own aid, and for the income brackets where private grant aid is deepest, a private net price occasionally undercuts the public sticker, the crossover the flagship table below illustrates at the state's best-known institution. The net price estimator runs the comparison properly, bracket by bracket.
Regional exchange. Illinois participates in the Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP), which caps tuition for participating students at 150% of the in-state rate at public institutions (and gives a 10% reduction at participating privates) across the member states. For Illinois residents eyeing a program in a neighboring member state, and for their counterparts eyeing one here, MSEP is the first discount to price before the nonresident sticker is believed.
Carry three Illinois numbers: $111,690 (the average four-year in-state public total), $14,297 (the flagship's median net price), and $11,320 (the cheapest public tuition in the state, at Governors State University). Lists, savings targets, and aid comparisons all start from those.
College costs in other states
Compare Illinois with the other state pages in this section, each with the same IPEDS breakdown of average charges, four-year totals, named institutional extremes, and flagship net prices, or return to the College cost hub for the calculators and the national state table:
Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · District of Columbia · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming
Frequently asked questions
How much does college cost in Illinois?
On IPEDS 2023-24 averages: $13,492 a year of tuition and fees in-state at publics, $18,988 out-of-state, and $33,749 at private nonprofits. The all-in four-year in-state public total with housing, food, and books at 3% annual increases is about $111,690.
What is the cheapest public college in Illinois?
Governors State University, at $11,320 of tuition and fees in the 2023-24 federal file, the lowest among the state's 12 public four-year institutions. The most expensive is University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign at $18,060.
How much aid does University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign give?
Its median net price for aided first-year students is $14,297 against published in-state tuition and fees of $18,060. By income, the median runs from $3,883 (up to $30,000) to $28,358 (over $110,000) in the IPEDS 2022-23 data.
Is Illinois a good state for out-of-state students?
That depends on the premium: nonresidents pay 1.4 times the resident tuition at Illinois publics on average ($18,988 vs $13,492). Regional exchange participation can cut that premium substantially for eligible programs, as described on this page.