Illinois
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
Illinois at China’s rate would graduate 18,829 engineers a year. It graduates 7,462.
Illinois produces 7,462 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 56,714 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 51 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 18,829. Output is growing (+11.3% over three years). Gap Score: 40% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 14,000 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 61% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
Illinois is missing 11,367 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 4x the annual output of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Where Illinois’s engineers are made.
51 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Illinois. The top 8 account for 77% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign | 2,576 | 29.4% |
| 2 | University of Illinois Chicago | 1,044 | 20.5% |
| 3 | Northwestern University | 565 | 24.9% |
| 4 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 408 | 66.6% |
| 5 | DePaul University | 333 | 10.6% |
| 6 | Northern Illinois University | 302 | 11.9% |
| 7 | Bradley University | 255 | 27.3% |
| 8 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | 246 | 12.0% |
Jobs vs. degrees
Illinois's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 3,190 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 1,340 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 1,280 |
| Industrial Engineers | 1,120 |
| Civil Engineers | 880 |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 660 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Illinois labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Illinois's quantum, battery and data-center incentives outpace its engineering pipeline
Illinois has backed a $500M quantum park, an $827M Rivian package, a $536M Gotion deal, a Stellantis reopening and $666.6M in data-center credits, while its engineering pipeline grew about 11% in three years. The jobs are arriving slower than the incentives.
The drain.
Illinois exports nearly half its college-bound seniors before they ever enroll and keeps losing residents to other states; the flagship retains most of its grads, but only after the leavers are already gone.
Sources: Discovery Partners Institute IWERC (IBHE); University of Illinois News Bureau; U.S. Census Bureau via Illinois Policy Institute
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in Illinois.
Tie REV and EDGE credits to seats
Rivian, Gotion, PsiQuantum and IBM together hold over $1.5B in state incentives with job pledges running years behind. Illinois should condition future REV and EDGE awards on recipients co-funding Digital ROTC service-for-tuition seats at nearby community colleges, so credits also pay for trained engineers.
Scale the City Colleges model statewide
IBM's 500-apprentice deal with City Colleges of Chicago is the right template. Extend it through Kankakee, Heartland, Rock Valley and Prairie State community colleges next to Manteno, Normal, Belvidere and the South Works park, with tuition paid in exchange for a service term at those plants.
Keep the 47.6% who leave
Nearly half of Illinois college-bound seniors enroll out of state and the state loses 40,000 residents a year on net. A Digital ROTC pledge that covers tuition at UIUC, UIC or a community college for a post-graduation service commitment inside Illinois would convert leavers into in-state engineers before they are recruited elsewhere.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Illinois, 13% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.