Which Illinois industrial engineering program has the lowest debt?

Northwestern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,912, with first-year pay of $89,811.

How much do industrial engineering graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 6 Illinois industrial engineering bachelor's programs is $72,602 in the first year after graduating and $88,954 five years after.

How many industrial engineering bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

6 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

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

6 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Industrial Engineering

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois industrial engineering bachelor's program pays its graduates $72,602 in their first year, $2,107 less than the national median. Northwestern University reports the highest first-year pay ($89,811), and Northwestern University the lowest median debt ($17,912).

Median first-year pay$72,602National $74,709

Median pay after 5 years$88,954National $94,097

Median federal debt$22,330National $24,750

Debt-to-earnings33%National 33%

All 6 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.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Northwestern UniversityEvanston · private nonprofit	$89,811	$137,306	$17,912	20%
2	UIUCChampaign · public	$78,313	$98,221	$22,330	29%
3	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$73,092	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$72,112	$88,954	$23,750	33%
5	Bradley UniversityPeoria · private nonprofit	$68,166	$86,997	$25,788	38%
6	UICChicago · public	$57,281	$88,853	$22,247	39%

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois industrial 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

Northwestern University$89,811
UIUC$78,313
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville$73,092
Northern Illinois University$72,112
Bradley University$68,166

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"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 industrial engineering, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Industrial Engineers

$100,540

Median pay in Illinois. 18,640 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 12% from 2025 to 2035, with about 23,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $73,780Top 10%: $155,650

Industrial Production Managers

$127,270

Median pay in Illinois. 11,570 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 17,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $82,900Top 10%: $205,310

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

Common questions

Northwestern University in Evanston reports the highest median first-year pay, $89,811. Its median federal debt is $17,912.

Industrial Engineering (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked83 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 industrial 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

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