fiddlefrog

Careful with the acronyms! UIC is the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana is known as UIUC.

Sorry to nitpick, but it would be unfortunate if someone got excited about the wrong school

Nottingham

The responses have been a great help. I'm not generally picky in this process of choosing schools but more than likely I'll be auditioning for Illinois, ISU, and DePaul. I heard Northwestern has a solid music program also but I know I don't have the grades and numbers to be accepted by that university.

I'm not only choosing schools on the quality of their program but the overall atmosphere of the campus. Just because I'm going to major in music doesn't mean I can't have factors such as the "home" feel.
My reasons for not choosing these schools aren't weak, right?
DePaul: If I don't qualify for a nice scholarship then it's a no. Heard great things about it but money is a factor. I want to graduate with little or no debt and music education doesn't pay that well. Would love to receive a pretty package. In the city of Chicago, which I absolutely love.

Elmhurst: Close to Chicago and my home. Maybe too close. I visited the campus and it's so clean...campus is like the size of the quad at U of I...
Same as DePaul: tuition is mad crazy. It's private, this I know, but from a guy who never heard of it until my assistant band director graduated from it I really question their program. Shallow I know, but I was never impressed by this school. I have a friend right now who's going into deep debt because he couldn't afford the tuition. What's even more horrible he's majoring in music ed. But hey, he's happy.
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Schools that I'm actually considering:

I've spoken to some recent Illinois Alums who are now assistant band directors at schools that pay big dinero. Said the quality of the program was solid and felt fulfilled in their training as undergraduates. I'm going to catch a few concerts, heard Illinois has about six band ensembles, and see how they sound. Planning on talking to the directors of the band that I see. Also, I'm going to talk some peers I know that graduated from the ISU program. I'm only a junior so I'm rather excited about this process.

violadad

Nottingham- For privates like DePaul that have strong audition based programs (and often grade/stat based academic merit scholarships), you may well see some talent scholarship money based on your performance at the audition relative to the rest of the field on your instrument. Some schools also allow additional scholarship monies based on your academic stats. Some schools will allow the combination of these awards, while at others, it can be mutually exclusive. The merit academic parameters are normally detailed somewhere on the schools webpages. I've found trying to pin down or ballpark talent awards almost impossible.

As I and others have said, the most economical route to a music ed degree is through your state schools. It is possible to attend a school like Depaul (with sufficient talent/merit aid) for about the same costs if you get lucky.

I would not rule Depaul out without first trying to ballpark what your potential merit aid COULD be. In any event, there are fine state options available in Illinois.