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2025 Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

30 Colleges in Illinois
1,749 Bachelor's Degrees
$56,558 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #8 in popularity, accounting is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 30 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 1,749 bachelor's degrees in accounting during the 2022-2023 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Accounting School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The accounting bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality accounting program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for accounting students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Accounting Schools

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois list, to help you choose the best school for you.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Accounting in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Accounting

1
352 Annual Graduates
$74,731 Median Starting Salary
$34,472 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in accounting. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.

Bachelor's recipients from the accounting major at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign make $18,173 more than the average college grad with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
155 Annual Graduates
$69,250 Median Starting Salary
$35,430 Median Student Debt

DePaul University is a wonderful decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in accounting. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from DePaul University receive $12,692 more than the average accounting grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from DePaul University

3
67 Annual Graduates
$69,965 Median Starting Salary
$65,646 Median Student Debt

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in accounting has to look into Loyola University Chicago. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Loyola University Chicago receive an earnings boost of approximately $13,407 over the average income of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Loyola University Chicago

4
166 Annual Graduates
$62,940 Median Starting Salary
$28,572 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat Illinois State University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in accounting. Illinois State is a very large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Illinois State University receive an earnings boost of approximately $6,382 over the average earnings of accounting majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Illinois State University

5
83 Annual Graduates
$63,743 Median Starting Salary
$10,903 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a large student population.

Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from Northern Illinois University make $7,185 more than the average accounting student.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Northern Illinois University

6
167 Annual Graduates
$65,680 Median Starting Salary
$21,608 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from University of Illinois at Chicago receive an earnings boost of approximately $9,122 above the typical earnings of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of Illinois at Chicago

7

Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Peoria.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Bradley University earn a boost of approximately $9,284 above the typical income of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Bradley University

8
Augustana crest
Augustana College
Rock Island, IL
43 Annual Graduates
$62,149 Median Starting Salary
$27,791 Median Student Debt

Located in the small city of Rock Island, Augustana is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the accounting degree program at Augustana College earn $5,591 above the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Augustana College

9
12 Annual Graduates
$70,831 Median Starting Salary
$45,632 Median Student Debt

Illinois Wesleyan is a small private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Bloomington.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Illinois Wesleyan University receive an earnings boost of approximately $14,273 over the average earnings of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University

10

Located in the large city of Chicago, SXU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the accounting program state that they receive average early career earnings of $49,533.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Saint Xavier University

Best Accounting Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Accounting Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 1,631
Ohio 252 2,198
Indiana 235 967
Wisconsin 213 1,013

View All Rankings >

Accounting is one of 21 different types of Business, Management & Marketing programs to choose from.

Accounting Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Accounting 1,749

Related Major Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management 3,383
Finance & Financial Management 1,737
Marketing 1,607
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 738
Management Information Systems 377
General Business/Commerce 320
Human Resource Management 210
Business/Managerial Economics 154
International Business 123
Construction Management 114

Notes and References

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