2025 Best General Business/Commerce Schools in Illinois
7Colleges in Illinois
1,138General Business Degrees Awarded
$51,660Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #16 in popularity, general business/commerce is one of the most sought-after degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.
For its 2025 ranking, College Factual looked at 7 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for general business/commerce students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 1,138 degrees in general business/commerce to qualified students.
Your choice of general business/commerce school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for general business/commerce schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best General Business/Commerce Schools in Illinois list, to help you choose the best school for you.
You can also filter this list by location to find schools closer to you.
In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you.
When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.
Best Schools for General Business/Commerce 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 general business degree levels they offer.
It is hard to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a degree in general business/commerce. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,152 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were approximately 112 general business/commerce students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. General Business/Commerce degree recipients from Northwestern University get an earnings boost of approximately $137,230 over the average earnings of general business/commerce majors.
It is hard to beat Illinois Wesleyan University if you want to pursue a degree in general business/commerce. Located in the city of Bloomington, Illinois Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #514 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means Illinois Wesleyan is a great university overall.
There were about 37 general business/commerce students who graduated with this degree at Illinois Wesleyan in the most recent year we have data available.
It is difficult to beat Lake Forest College if you want to pursue a degree in general business/commerce. Located in the large suburb of Lake Forest, Lake Forest is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population. This college ranks 33rd out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 53 general business/commerce students who graduated with this degree at Lake Forest in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the general business program earn around $44,283 for their early career.
Saint Xavier University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a degree in general business/commerce. SXU is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago. This university ranks 30th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 72 general business/commerce students who graduated with this degree at SXU in the most recent data year. After graduating, general business degree recipients usually make around $44,190 at the beginning of their careers.
Located in the large suburb of Deerfield, TIU Illinois is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly small student population. A Best Colleges rank of #702 out of 2,152 schools nationwide means TIU Illinois is a great university overall.
There were approximately 28 general business/commerce students who graduated with this degree at TIU Illinois in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, general business degree recipients usually earn an average of $47,463 in their early careers.
Northeastern Illinois University is a medium-sized public university located in the large city of Chicago. This university ranks 59th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were about 40 general business/commerce students who graduated with this degree at Northeastern Illinois University in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the general business program earn around $45,015 in the first couple years of working.
DeVry University - Illinois is a fairly large private for-profit university located in the suburb of Lisle. This university ranks 85th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 603 general business/commerce students who graduated with this degree at DeVry University - Illinois in the most recent data year. Those general business/commerce students who get their degree from DeVry University - Illinois earn $4,944 more than the standard general business grad.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Your choice of general business/commerce school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. In order to come up with a best overall ranking for general business/commerce schools, we combine our degree-level rankings, weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each level.
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