Strongly agree. Lots of students are only attracted by the salary and don’t look beyond that. Read this article from February.
I agree with this as well.
Since you live in Illinois, you can take advantage of the [Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP)](http://msep.mhec.org). U Kansas would cost you $13,685 per year for tuition, which is cheaper than your in-state flagship UIUC ($17,040). If you decide to pursue something other than engineering (about 40% of engineers switch to other majors), it’s stronger in other academic areas than the other PetE schools except UT Austin, Penn State, and Texas A&M – schools like UT Permian Basin are much more of a one trick pony.
[MSEP | University of Kansas](University of Kansas | Midwest Student Exchange Program)
[University of Kansas | School of Engineering | Chemical and Petroleum Engineering](https://cpe.engr.ku.edu/overview)
U North Dakota is even cheaper, $10,586 per year for tuition.
[MSEP | University of North Dakota](University of North Dakota | Midwest Student Exchange Program)
[University of North Dakota | Engineering & Mines | Petroleum Engineering](Energy and Petroleum Engineering | College of Engineering & Mines | University of North Dakota)
U Tulsa offers Pet E and gives out a lot of merit aid. If you have high stats, it’s worth an application.