Best General Engineering Degree Programs in Illinois in 2026
General engineering degrees in Illinois offer different ways to develop mechanical and electrical interests within a complete broad degree. Monmouth keeps both disciplines in a shared core before two concentrations diverge. Olivet Nazarene offers six concentrations, while Greenville combines a prescribed interdisciplinary core with technical electives.
These reviewed programs are located in Monmouth, Bourbonnais and Greenville. Their exact awards are Engineering degrees; a mechanical or electrical concentration should remain clearly identified as a concentration when you compare programs.
How we ranked general engineering bachelor’s programs in Illinois
The reviewed set includes complete Engineering B.S. and B.S.E. awards supported by official program and curriculum sources. A first-year engineering designation, engineering technology degree or preparatory transfer arrangement does not establish an eligible broad engineering award.
Monmouth leads for a particularly explicit common core linking circuits, controls, mechanics and thermal sciences before concentration study. Olivet follows for its range of structured concentrations and early-to-senior design sequence. Greenville adds required mechatronics and a substantial elective block. This is an editorial assessment of the reviewed curricula, not a count of every engineering program in Illinois.
The college lists housing, the meal plan, a health fee and an orientation fee separately from tuition. Financial aid varies by student. The per-credit figure on the cost page is a Department of Defense calculation and is not the engineering degree’s course-credit requirement.
Monmouth’s Engineering B.S. keeps substantial mechanical and electrical study in a shared core before the concentration courses diverge. Digital electronics and circuits appear alongside thermodynamics, fluids, heat transfer and automatic controls. The mechanical emphasis adds mechanics of materials and machine analysis, while the electrical emphasis adds embedded systems and electrical power machines. Required drawing and ethics courses broaden how students represent and evaluate their work. Four semesters of engineering seminar and a two-course senior design sequence give the technical curriculum a recurring communication and project component.
Where it stands out
Consider Monmouth if you want a liberal arts setting with a fairly fixed engineering core rather than an individually assembled major. The common controls, electronics and thermal courses can suit students who want substantial exposure to both electrical and mechanical subjects before applying the concentration.
What to weigh
The two concentrations retain the Engineering B.S. award; they are not separate Mechanical or Electrical Engineering degrees. Monmouth also counts course credits differently from a conventional semester-hour catalog. Transfer applicants should ask the department to map previous classes to this exact plan before estimating remaining study and tuition.
The shared engineering core includes digital electronics, statics, circuit analysis, materials, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and automatic controls.
Mechanical and electrical concentrations add different advanced courses to the same broad engineering core.
Engineering students also complete required drawing and ethics courses and a mathematics/science foundation. Monmouth expresses degree requirements in course credits rather than ordinary semester-credit totals.
Areas of focus
Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Admission & progression
Applicants use either the Common Application or the Monmouth College Application and submit official transcripts.
The college is test optional. Students who earn college credit while still in high school apply as first-time freshmen.
Department chairs make the final determination on how transferred coursework satisfies major requirements.
Design & practical experience
Engineering Communications and Engineering Computation are required early courses.
Students complete four semesters of Engineering Seminar.
Senior Design I and II provide the culminating design sequence.
The published attendance schedule lists a separate $990 general fee and $12,290 for housing and meals. Books, transportation and personal expenses add to the budget. Scholarship and grant eligibility varies; borrowed funds must be distinguished from price reductions.
Olivet Nazarene’s B.S.E. offers six concentrations within a single Engineering degree. Engineering Design I and II establish an early design foundation, followed later by a two-course senior project that explicitly incorporates technical communication. The choice of concentration substantially changes the advanced curriculum. Mechanical students take thermofluids laboratory work, materials, automatic controls and machine design; electrical students develop digital systems, analog electronics, embedded systems, communications and electromagnetics. Mathematics and laboratory science support these pathways, and Engineering Economics and Stewardship connects technical choices with resource decisions.
Where it stands out
This Bourbonnais program is relevant if you want a named technical concentration within a Christian university’s broad engineering award. The optional three-session co-op track gives students another route to connect study and work, while the degree sheets make the course requirements for each concentration explicit.
What to weigh
Choose the concentration before comparing the full course load: the mechanical and electrical pathways have different requirements, and all required engineering and supporting mathematics/science courses need C grades or better. The curriculum also includes Christianity, scripture and Christian living courses, making its faith context part of the academic plan.
The degree includes Engineering Design I and II, a two-course Senior Design Project, and Engineering Economics and Stewardship.
The mechanical concentration includes a thermofluids laboratory, materials science, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, computer-aided engineering, automatic controls and machine design.
The electrical concentration includes digital systems, circuit analysis, analog electronics, embedded systems, signal processing, communication systems and electromagnetics.
Required supporting study includes calculus, differential equations, chemistry and physics; all required engineering and supporting mathematics/science courses need grades of C or better.
Areas of focus
Architectural Engineering
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Admission & progression
Prospective undergraduates begin with Olivet’s free university application and work with an admissions counselor.
Students choose a concentration within the B.S.E.; its degree sheet specifies the required courses and grade conditions.
The 2026–27 degree sheets require at least a 2.0 institutional/cumulative GPA and grades of C or better in required engineering and supporting mathematics/science courses for graduation.
Design & practical experience
Engineering Design I and II establish early project work before the senior design sequence.
Senior Design Project I combines design with technical communication; Senior Design Project II develops expert design.
An optional co-op track incorporates a three-session sequence during the degree.
The university lists tuition of $16,650 each fall and spring, plus a $900 annual general student fee. Housing, food and other expenses are separate. Credits above 17 in a semester carry an additional $510 per-credit charge; individual course or activity fees may also apply.
Greenville’s B.S.E. combines mechanical and electrical subjects in a required core that includes mechatronics. Circuits, mechanics, thermodynamics and materials supply the technical foundation, while product design, project management, sustainability and ethics develop how students plan and evaluate engineering work. The published degree plan reserves 18 elective credits for individual interests, including options such as embedded systems, controls, manufacturing and computational modeling. Senior Design I and II bring the studies into a culminating project. The university describes the program as a four-year engineering degree within an explicitly Christian learning environment.
Where it stands out
Consider Greenville if you want mechatronics in the required curriculum and room to choose a technical direction through electives. The combination of project management, ethics and sustainability may also appeal if you want to examine the consequences of a design alongside its mechanics and circuitry.
What to weigh
Progression into upper-division engineering has an academic threshold: the published catalog specifies at least 2.75 overall and in the major, with a departmental appeal process. Electives must also satisfy an engineering-prefix minimum. Discuss the current course rotation and any transfer equivalencies before relying on a particular elective combination.
The published plan includes circuits, statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, mechanics of materials and mechatronics.
Engineering Environment and Sustainability, Project Management, Ethics and Product Design are required.
Eighteen elective credits develop individual interests, with at least nine carrying the engineering prefix. The complete degree requires 120 credits, including the 93-credit major.
Admission & progression
Prospective undergraduates apply through the university’s online application and admissions team.
The published catalog requires at least a 2.75 overall GPA and 2.75 major GPA to enter upper-division engineering courses, with a stated departmental appeal process.
Elective planning requires at least 45 credits carrying the engineering prefix across the complete B.S.E.
Design & practical experience
Engineering Design and CAD and Product Design lead into Senior Design I and II.
Up to three internship credits can count toward the degree.
The department describes summer research and internship opportunities alongside the required course plan.
What matters in general engineering bachelor’s programs in Illinois
Shared foundations
We examine what every student studies before a concentration or elective selection changes the plan.
Depth and choice
The reviewed programs range from two defined concentrations to six pathways or an advised elective block.
Design and progression
Design sequences and academic requirements help show how students move from introductory study into advanced work.
Choosing among general engineering degrees in Illinois
Monmouth’s shared curriculum includes digital electronics, circuits, automatic controls, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Its mechanical emphasis then adds materials mechanics and machine analysis; its electrical emphasis adds embedded systems and electrical power machines. That structure preserves considerable overlap between the two pathways.
Olivet’s concentrations differ more substantially in their advanced requirements. The mechanical sheet includes a thermofluids laboratory and machine design, while electrical students study signal processing, communication systems and electromagnetics. Greenville places mechatronics in the required core and uses electives to develop individual interests. For questions about integrating control systems and moving hardware, explore Mechatronics Programs.
Look at both the first project and the senior sequence
All three reviewed plans culminate in a two-course senior design sequence, but the preparation differs. Monmouth includes engineering communications and computation plus four semesters of engineering seminar. Olivet starts with Engineering Design I and II and explicitly connects its senior project with technical communication.
Greenville combines design and CAD with product design, project management, ethics and sustainability before Senior Design I and II. Internship credit is available within its elective rules. Olivet separately advertises an optional three-session co-op track. Ask which experiences are required and how optional work placements fit around the courses you need.
Check course units, progression and the campus budget
Monmouth uses course credits in its degree requirements. Do not read its total as an ordinary semester-hour figure or substitute the tuition page’s separate Department of Defense calculation. Its department chairs determine how transferred courses apply to a major. Greenville’s catalog sets overall and major GPA conditions for entering upper-division engineering, with an appeal process.
Olivet’s plans require C grades or better in required engineering and supporting mathematics/science courses. Its Christian coursework is also an explicit part of the degree, while Greenville describes a Christian approach to engineering education. Compare these academic expectations alongside the annual tuition schedules, separate fees and your financial aid offer using the engineering degree cost guide.
Questions, answered
What else should you know?
Do these Illinois concentrations award separate specialty degrees?+
Monmouth awards an Engineering B.S. with mechanical or electrical concentrations, and Olivet awards a B.S.E. with six concentration choices. Retain both the complete award name and the concentration when comparing them with standalone specialty degrees.
Which reviewed Illinois program requires mechatronics?+
Greenville’s published engineering plan includes Mechatronics in its required core. Monmouth and Olivet have relevant controls and electronics subjects, but their course structures differ.
Does Olivet have a co-op option?+
Yes. Its engineering department describes an optional co-op track with three work sessions during the B.S.E. Ask the department how the sessions affect your selected concentration’s course calendar.
Is Greenville’s engineering degree a preparatory transfer program?+
No. The reviewed B.S.E. is a complete 120-credit degree. Greenville’s separate preparatory or cooperative arrangements should not be confused with this four-year engineering award.
Keep researching
Choosing a general engineering degree
Learn what a general engineering degree covers, how concentrations build technical depth and how broad bachelor's programs compare with specialized majors.
