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2025 Best Business Administration & Management Schools in Illinois

48 Colleges in Illinois
10,946 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
$56,357 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you pursue a degree in business administration & management, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 48 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Business Administration & Management Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 10,946 degrees in business administration & management annually.

What's on this page: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Business Administration & Management School

Best Business Administration & Management Schools in Illinois Your choice of business administration & management school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Business Administration & Management School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.

In order to find the schools that are the best fit for you, you may want to filter to one of the degree levels below.

Pick Your Business Administration & Management Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Business Administration
Bachelor's Degrees in Business Administration
Master's Degrees in Business Administration
Doctor's Degrees in Business Administration

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Business Administration & Management Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.

Best Schools for Business Administration & Management in Illinois

Although we recommend filtering by degree level first, you can view the list below to see which schools give the educational experience for the business administration degree levels they offer.

10 Top Illinois Schools in Business Administration

1
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
347 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
$224,402 Median Starting Salary

Northwestern University is a great option for students interested in a degree in business administration & management. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were about 347 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available. Those business administration & management students who get their degree from Northwestern University receive $168,045 more than the typical business administration graduate.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
1,429 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
15.2% Growth in Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a good choice for students interested in a degree in business administration & management. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Champaign. A Best Colleges rank of #41 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 1429 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the business administration & management program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $39,093 more than the average college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
615 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
$90,857 Median Starting Salary

DePaul University is a good option for students pursuing a degree in business administration & management. DePaul is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #135 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means DePaul is a great university overall.

There were approximately 615 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent year we have data available. Degree recipients from the business administration & management major at DePaul University make $34,500 more than the typical graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from DePaul University

4
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
376 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
30.1% Growth in Graduates

Loyola University Chicago is a good choice for students pursuing a degree in business administration & management. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #100 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Loyola Chicago is a great university overall.

There were roughly 376 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Those business administration & management students who get their degree from Loyola University Chicago receive $30,225 more than the typical business administration grad.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from Loyola University Chicago

5
Elmhurst crest
Elmhurst University
Elmhurst, IL
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
152 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
$60,284 Median Starting Salary

Located in the suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. This university ranks 28th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were about 152 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at Elmhurst in the most recent year we have data available. Those business administration & management students who get their degree from Elmhurst University receive $3,926 more than the average business administration grad.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from Elmhurst University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
246 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
$76,926 Median Starting Salary

Benedictine U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of Lisle. A Best Colleges rank of #419 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Benedictine U is a great university overall.

There were roughly 246 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at Benedictine U in the most recent data year. Business Administration & Management degree recipients from Benedictine University get an earnings boost of around $20,569 over the typical earnings of business administration & management majors.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from Benedictine University

7
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
348 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
8.9% Growth in Graduates

Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #529 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means NIU is a great university overall.

There were roughly 348 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at NIU in the most recent data year. Business Administration & Management degree recipients from Northern Illinois University earn a boost of approximately $13,444 over the average income of business administration & management majors.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from Northern Illinois University

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
65 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
$51,347 Median Starting Salary

Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Peoria. A Best Colleges rank of #519 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Bradley is a great university overall.

There were approximately 65 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at Bradley in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the business administration program make about $51,347 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from Bradley University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
273 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
3.7% Growth in Graduates

Illinois State is a fairly large public university located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal. A Best Colleges rank of #210 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Illinois State is a great university overall.

There were roughly 273 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at Illinois State in the most recent year we have data available. Those business administration & management students who get their degree from Illinois State University earn $3,446 more than the standard business administration student.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from Illinois State University

10
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
210 Business Administration Degrees Awarded
$86,956 Median Starting Salary

Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #254 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means UIC is a great university overall.

There were about 210 business administration & management students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent year we have data available. Those business administration & management students who get their degree from University of Illinois at Chicago receive $30,599 more than the standard business administration student.

More information about a degree in business administration & management from University of Illinois at Chicago

Honorable Mentions

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Business Administration & Management Schools in Illinois award.

Rank College Location
11 Rasmussen University - Illinois Rockford, IL
12 Augustana College Rock Island, IL
13 Concordia University, Chicago River Forest, IL
14 College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL
15 William Rainey Harper College Palatine, IL
16 Judson University Elgin, IL

Best Business Administration & Management Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Business Administration & Management Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 322 9,225
Ohio 314 10,249
Indiana 294 6,565
Wisconsin 273 5,326

View All Rankings >

One of 21 majors within the Business, Management & Marketing area of study, Business Administration & Management has other similar majors worth exploring.

Business Administration Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Business Administration and Management 8,630
Interior Design Management 1,238
Organizational Leadership 246
Supply Chain Management 224
Operations Management 171
Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management 146
Office Administration 132
Retail Management 70
Research and Development Management 23
Purchasing, Procurement/Acquisitions and Contracts Management 22

View All Business Administration Focus Areas >

Majors Similar to Business Administration

Related Major Annual Graduates
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 5,311
Accounting 3,292
Finance & Financial Management 2,179
Marketing 2,175
Human Resource Management 1,256
General Business/Commerce 1,138
Management Information Systems 619
Business Support & Assistant Services 454
Entrepreneurial Studies 264
Business/Managerial Economics 262

View All Business Administration Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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