US College Programs

Biomedical Engineering (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

  • 5 programs report first-year pay
  • 5 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Biomedical/Medical Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois biomedical engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $55,011 in their first year, $9,287 less than the national median. UIUC reports the highest first-year pay ($71,485), and UIUC the lowest median debt ($16,850).

Median first-year pay$55,011National $64,298
Median pay after 5 years$94,854National $94,356
Median federal debt$20,521National $23,125
Debt-to-earnings38%National 36%

All 5 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois biomedical engineering program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. UIUC$71,485
  2. Northwestern University$68,592
  3. UIC$55,011
  4. Northern Illinois University$54,047
  5. Illinois Institute of Technology$48,572

Lowest median debt

  1. UIUC$16,850
  2. Northwestern University$17,063
  3. Northern Illinois University$20,521
  4. UIC$22,500
  5. Illinois Institute of Technology$27,000

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. UIUC24%
  2. Northwestern University25%
  3. Northern Illinois University38%
  4. UIC41%
  5. Illinois Institute of Technology56%

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to biomedical engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Architectural and Engineering Managers

$163,610

Median pay in Illinois. 8,900 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $112,090Top 10%: $231,880

Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers

$89,520

Median pay in Illinois. 280 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,370Top 10%: $138,110

Common questions

UIUC in Champaign reports the highest median first-year pay, $71,485. Its median federal debt is $16,850.

Related pages

Biomedical Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked115 programs by pay and debt

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.
  • 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.
  • Medians are across the biomedical engineering bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024