Northwestern University spends $45,311 per player on student aid for its men’s team athletes -- the highest rate among Illinois colleges -- according to an Illinois Business Daily analysis of U.S. Department of Education data.
In comparison, the University of Illinois-Champaign had the second-highest athletic aid rate for men’s teams ($21,969 per player), followed by Northern Illinois University ($19,048 per player).
In total, Northwestern spent more than $10.6 million on athletic aid for its 235 male athletes in 2016.
In Illinois, the 70 colleges with men’s teams spent a total of more than $77.6 million on athletic student aid.
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education compiles athletics data annually from more than 2,000 schools receiving federal financial aid. The Illinois Business Daily analysis was based on those numbers.
More than 1,300 of those schools provide student aid to players on men's teams. In all, they spent more than $2.1 billion in 2016 on aid for 238,546 players.
Men’s athletic student aid among Illinois colleges
| School | Division | Undergraduate Enrollment | Men's Team Athletic Student Aid | Total Men's Team Participation | Student Aid Per Athlete |
| Northwestern University | NCAA Division I-FBS | 8,249 | $10,648,030 | 235 | $45,311 |
| University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | NCAA Division I-FBS | 32,126 | $7,249,870 | 330 | $21,969 |
| Northern Illinois University | NCAA Division I-FBS | 12,323 | $4,609,538 | 242 | $19,048 |
| DePaul University | NCAA Division I without football | 13,126 | $2,277,760 | 149 | $15,287 |
| Chicago State University | NCAA Division I without football | 1,464 | $892,957 | 65 | $13,738 |
| Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | NCAA Division I-FCS | 10,509 | $3,620,755 | 269 | $13,460 |
| Bradley University | NCAA Division I without football | 4,278 | $2,133,038 | 175 | $12,189 |
| Trinity International
University-Illinois | NAIA Division I | 631 | $1,792,054 | 153 | $11,713 |
| Loyola University Chicago | NCAA Division I without football | 10,261 | $1,873,302 | 161 | $11,635 |
| Illinois State University | NCAA Division I-FCS | 17,420 | $3,245,314 | 315 | $10,303 |
| University of Illinois at Chicago | NCAA Division I without football | 16,408 | $2,045,376 | 211 | $9,694 |
| Southwestern Illinois
College | NJCAA Division I | 3,860 | $697,786 | 73 | $9,559 |
| Robert Morris University Illinois | NAIA Division II | 2,253 | $6,024,197 | 722 | $8,344 |
| Judson University | NAIA Division I | 786 | $1,404,853 | 179 | $7,848 |
| Western Illinois University | NCAA Division I-FCS | 7,482 | $2,124,567 | 273 | $7,782 |
| Saint Xavier University | NAIA Division II | 2,599 | $1,744,829 | 226 | $7,720 |
| University of St Francis | NAIA Division II | 1,320 | $2,593,084 | 344 | $7,538 |
| Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville | NCAA Division I without football | 9,883 | $1,211,792 | 168 | $7,213 |
| Quincy University | NCAA Division II with football | 1,035 | $2,259,497 | 326 | $6,931 |
| Lake Land College | NJCAA Division I | 2,261 | $254,544 | 40 | $6,364 |
| Lewis University | NCAA Division II without football | 3,741 | $1,755,495 | 282 | $6,225 |
| Eastern Illinois University | NCAA Division I-FCS | 5,117 | $2,139,691 | 347 | $6,166 |
| Lincoln College | NJCAA Division III | 727 | $1,064,774 | 174 | $6,119 |
| Olivet Nazarene University | NAIA Division II | 3,019 | $2,961,859 | 488 | $6,069 |
| McKendree University | NCAA Division II with football | 1,820 | $2,866,081 | 476 | $6,021 |
| Trinity Christian College | NAIA Division II | 903 | $917,123 | 159 | $5,768 |
| Kankakee Community
College | NJCAA Division II | 1,064 | $355,231 | 62 | $5,730 |
| University of Illinois at Springfield | NCAA Division II without football | 1,896 | $792,387 | 145 | $5,465 |
| Danville Area Community College | NJCAA Division II | 973 | $239,481 | 46 | $5,206 |
| John A Logan College | NJCAA Division I | 1,899 | $263,964 | 56 | $4,714 |
| Rend Lake College | NJCAA Division I | 1,135 | $242,553 | 53 | $4,576 |
| Heartland Community
College | NJCAA Division II | 2,107 | $248,551 | 57 | $4,361 |
| Frontier Community
College | NJCAA Division I | 257 | $106,217 | 26 | $4,085 |
| Wabash Valley College | NJCAA Division I | 464 | $210,059 | 52 | $4,040 |
| Shawnee Community
College | NJCAA Division I | 739 | $135,065 | 35 | $3,859 |
| Kaskaskia College | NJCAA Division I | 1,233 | $243,503 | 64 | $3,805 |
| Lincoln Trail College | NJCAA Division I | 386 | $222,972 | 59 | $3,779 |
| Southeastern Illinois
College | NJCAA Division I | 457 | $148,407 | 43 | $3,451 |
| Lincoln Land Community College | NJCAA Division II | 2,269 | $196,618 | 59 | $3,333 |
| Illinois Central College | NJCAA Division II | 3,082 | $288,459 | 87 | $3,316 |
| South Suburban College | NJCAA Division II | 1,328 | $235,999 | 73 | $3,233 |
| Governors State University | NAIA Division II | 1,923 | $93,663 | 29 | $3,230 |
| John Wood Community College | NJCAA Division II | 965 | $123,716 | 39 | $3,172 |
| Lewis and Clark Community College | NJCAA Division I | 1,731 | $240,864 | 82 | $2,937 |
| Carl Sandburg College | NJCAA Division II | 929 | $204,421 | 73 | $2,800 |
| Sauk Valley Community College | NJCAA Division I | 792 | $126,922 | 47 | $2,700 |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Kennedy-King College | NJCAA Division I | 1,570 | $80,638 | 30 | $2,688 |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College | NJCAA Division II | 781 | $76,582 | 29 | $2,641 |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College | NJCAA Division II | 3,149 | $31,544 | 12 | $2,629 |
| Olney Central College | NJCAA Division I | 479 | $147,864 | 57 | $2,594 |
| Prairie State College | NJCAA Division II | 1,400 | $150,692 | 60 | $2,512 |
| Black Hawk College | NJCAA Division II | 1,909 | $138,425 | 56 | $2,472 |
| Parkland College | NJCAA Division II | 2,978 | $189,420 | 85 | $2,228 |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College | NJCAA Division I | 2,420 | $78,800 | 36 | $2,189 |
| Roosevelt University | NAIA Division II | 2,250 | $208,919 | 98 | $2,132 |
| Lincoln Christian University | NAIA Division II | 357 | $90,161 | 51 | $1,768 |
| Highland Community
College | NJCAA Division I | 823 | $84,860 | 55 | $1,543 |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S Truman College | NJCAA Division I | 1,599 | $52,986 | 39 | $1,359 |
| City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley College | NJCAA Division I | 1,901 | $40,845 | 34 | $1,201 |
| Spoon River College | NJCAA Division II | 727 | $31,699 | 27 | $1,174 |
| Moraine Valley Community College | NJCAA Division II | 6,186 | $96,744 | 87 | $1,112 |
| College of Lake County | NJCAA Division II | 3,808 | $90,779 | 83 | $1,094 |
| Kishwaukee College | NJCAA Division II | 1,570 | $39,972 | 37 | $1,080 |
| Benedictine University | NCAA Division III with football | 2,687 | $522,138 | 494 | $1,057 |
| Triton College | Other | 3,107 | $111,870 | 119 | $940 |
| Morton College | NJCAA Division II | 1,253 | $56,250 | 67 | $840 |
| McHenry County College | NJCAA Division II | 1,944 | $60,840 | 73 | $833 |
| Illinois Valley Community College | NJCAA Division II | 1,256 | $41,759 | 75 | $557 |
| Waubonsee Community College | NJCAA Division II | 3,101 | $34,816 | 78 | $446 |
| Oakton Community College | NJCAA Division II | 2,596 | $31,209 | 105 | $297 |
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