Which UIUC major has the lowest debt?

Plant Science graduates leave with a median of $15,750 in federal loans, the lowest among 70 UIUC bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does UIUC cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $16,004 a year, and $35,124 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $14,355 a year.

How many UIUC programs report graduate pay?

71 bachelor's programs at UIUC report first-year pay, and 70 of them also report federal debt.

UIUC Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Public university
Champaign, IL
36,258 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

71 UIUC bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer Science pays the most in the first year ($124,530), and Music the least ($13,128). The median program pays $42,214.

In-state tuition and fees$16,004Per year. Out-of-state $35,124

Average net price after aid$14,355Per year

Graduation rate85%Within 6 years

Admission rate42%Of applicants

All 71 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Illinois. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Illinois
1	Computer ScienceAbout 311 graduates a year	$124,530	$170,405	$20,500	1st of 23
2	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 165 graduates a year	$113,503	Not reported	$19,399	1st of 12
3	Mathematics and Computer ScienceAbout 87 graduates a year	$109,843	Not reported	$23,350	1st of 2
4	Computer EngineeringAbout 396 graduates a year	$103,123	$136,097	$20,500	1st of 5
5	Electrical EngineeringAbout 184 graduates a year	$86,483	$103,028	$21,600	1st of 7
6	Systems EngineeringAbout 83 graduates a year	$81,785	Not reported	$17,800	1st of 1
7	Nuclear EngineeringAbout 28 graduates a year	$81,134	Not reported	$21,350	1st of 1
8	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 228 graduates a year	$80,187	$96,770	$20,500	1st of 8
9	Industrial EngineeringAbout 80 graduates a year	$78,313	$98,221	$22,330	2nd of 6
10	Management Information SystemsAbout 203 graduates a year	$77,572	$115,128	$19,500	1st of 4
11	Chemical EngineeringAbout 122 graduates a year	$77,440	$107,589	$22,850	2nd of 4
12	Aerospace EngineeringAbout 137 graduates a year	$75,859	$109,503	$23,951	1st of 2
13	FinanceAbout 323 graduates a year	$75,381	$118,286	$19,500	1st of 21
14	Materials EngineeringAbout 92 graduates a year	$75,080	$96,928	$17,916	1st of 1
15	AccountingAbout 352 graduates a year	$74,731	$96,827	$20,500	1st of 28
16	Civil EngineeringAbout 180 graduates a year	$73,397	$90,751	$19,054	1st of 6
17	Management ScienceAbout 53 graduates a year	$72,527	$100,568	$21,000	2nd of 13
18	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 86 graduates a year	$71,485	$103,191	$16,850	1st of 5
19	MarketingAbout 145 graduates a year	$69,273	$89,257	$20,000	1st of 22
20	StatisticsAbout 330 graduates a year	$68,636	$104,911	$19,394	3rd of 4
21	Business AdministrationAbout 134 graduates a year	$68,442	$95,310	$19,175	1st of 38
22	Engineering PhysicsAbout 96 graduates a year	$64,304	$109,155	$20,136	1st of 2
23	Agricultural EngineeringAbout 75 graduates a year	$62,032	$87,830	$21,350	1st of 1
24	EconomicsAbout 315 graduates a year	$58,921	$91,191	$21,228	4th of 15
25	Agricultural BusinessAbout 255 graduates a year	$55,934	$88,101	$20,000	1st of 2
26	Special EducationAbout 24 graduates a year	$51,922	$67,699	$18,925	1st of 10
27	PhysicsAbout 61 graduates a year	$51,019	$72,340	$20,500	1st of 1
28	Sustainability StudiesAbout 72 graduates a year	$50,678	Not reported	$19,500	1st of 2
29	MathematicsAbout 141 graduates a year	$48,728	$81,840	$20,847	6th of 7
30	Agricultural Public ServicesAbout 36 graduates a year	$48,643	Not reported	Not reported	1st of 1
31	Public Relations and AdvertisingAbout 191 graduates a year	$48,063	$75,277	$23,250	2nd of 9
32	Teacher EducationAbout 95 graduates a year	$48,038	$52,589	$19,500	4th of 38
33	ChemistryAbout 121 graduates a year	$47,034	$75,401	$21,500	1st of 4
34	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 46 graduates a year	$46,897	$50,026	$21,500	5th of 21
35	Plant ScienceAbout 27 graduates a year	$45,411	$67,313	$15,750	1st of 1
36	GeographyAbout 14 graduates a year	$42,214	Not reported	$25,000	2nd of 4
37	Food ScienceAbout 72 graduates a year	$41,150	$60,678	$19,000	1st of 1
38	Architectural TechnologyAbout 87 graduates a year	$41,102	Not reported	$21,291	1st of 2
39	Atmospheric Science and MeteorologyAbout 14 graduates a year	$41,026	$77,106	$22,311	1st of 1
40	Public HealthAbout 170 graduates a year	$40,564	$71,261	$20,678	3rd of 6
41	Romance LanguagesAbout 54 graduates a year	$38,942	$62,665	$21,800	4th of 10
42	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 11 graduates a year	$38,867	Not reported	$23,250	1st of 2
43	CommunicationsAbout 294 graduates a year	$37,808	$71,207	$19,500	10th of 26
44	EnglishAbout 96 graduates a year	$37,031	$60,391	$20,961	4th of 18
45	Social WorkAbout 87 graduates a year	$36,815	$59,589	$19,344	10th of 13
46	JournalismAbout 49 graduates a year	$36,303	$57,331	$22,300	6th of 8
47	Systems ScienceAbout 71 graduates a year	$35,239	$59,488	$20,600	1st of 1
48	Political ScienceAbout 252 graduates a year	$35,172	$74,311	$20,025	9th of 20
49	Health SciencesAbout 129 graduates a year	$34,806	$76,828	$21,339	3rd of 5
50	Parks and RecreationAbout 81 graduates a year	$34,742	$63,748	$23,447	1st of 2
51	Design and Applied ArtsAbout 75 graduates a year	$34,670	$70,046	$18,839	3rd of 10
52	Experimental PsychologyAbout 573 graduates a year	$33,384	Not reported	$20,050	1st of 2
53	Ethnic, Cultural, and Gender StudiesAbout 28 graduates a year	$32,856	Not reported	$23,402	3rd of 4
54	SociologyAbout 82 graduates a year	$31,548	$61,548	$21,154	14th of 16
55	Environmental Science and ConservationAbout 82 graduates a year	$31,369	$58,105	$21,000	3rd of 8
56	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 176 graduates a year	$31,187	$74,221	$21,425	8th of 19
57	International StudiesAbout 42 graduates a year	$30,438	Not reported	$21,628	1st of 1
58	Animal ScienceAbout 143 graduates a year	$30,187	$53,114	$19,850	2nd of 2
59	Other Biological SciencesAbout 134 graduates a year	$30,178	$60,171	$21,350	1st of 1
60	Cell Biology and AnatomyAbout 290 graduates a year	$29,777	$70,132	$22,000	2nd of 2
61	Human Development and Family StudiesAbout 101 graduates a year	$29,762	$64,921	$19,600	4th of 5
62	Communication Sciences and DisordersAbout 86 graduates a year	$29,620	$67,270	$21,117	2nd of 2
63	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 35 graduates a year	$28,669	$33,080	$21,356	5th of 15
64	HistoryAbout 94 graduates a year	$26,436	$58,586	$19,000	13th of 13
65	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 17 graduates a year	$25,921	$48,264	$19,500	2nd of 3
66	Area StudiesAbout 13 graduates a year	$24,332	$58,917	$22,050	2nd of 2
67	Writing and RhetoricAbout 32 graduates a year	$24,225	$47,544	$23,250	3rd of 5
68	TheatreAbout 30 graduates a year	$22,159	$38,862	$20,500	5th of 14
69	PhilosophyAbout 20 graduates a year	$21,824	Not reported	$18,750	2nd of 2
70	AnthropologyAbout 40 graduates a year	$16,197	$52,379	$21,650	7th of 7
71	MusicAbout 58 graduates a year	$13,128	$32,182	$24,625	13th of 13

Program names link to the program's own page, and Illinois ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Illinois programs in the field do too.

2 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer Science$124,530
Computer and Information Science$113,503
Mathematics and Computer Science$109,843
Computer Engineering$103,123
Electrical Engineering$86,483

Lowest median debt

Plant Science$15,750
Biomedical Engineering$16,850
Systems Engineering$17,800
Materials Engineering$17,916
Philosophy$18,750

Largest programs

Experimental PsychologyAbout 573 graduates a year
Computer EngineeringAbout 396 graduates a year
AccountingAbout 352 graduates a year
StatisticsAbout 330 graduates a year
FinanceAbout 323 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer Science graduates earn a median of $124,530 in their first year, the most of 71 UIUC bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Illinois rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels