2023 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Journalism in Illinois
18
Ranked Colleges
267
Degrees Awarded
$29,800
Avg Cost*
With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.
In 2021-2022, 10,697 people earned their degree in general journalism, making the major the 69th most popular in the United States.
Across Illinois, there were 308 general journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 267 general journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,374 and $23,086 respectively.
This year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking looked at 18 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in general journalism. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their general journalism program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.
For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank General Journalism Schools
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.
One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois”.
Top 18 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Journalism in Illinois
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Columbia College Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 20 students in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Columbia College Chicago General Journalism Report
Out of the 18 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Augustana College landed the #2 spot on the list. Augustana is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Rock Island, Illinois. It awarded 17 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Augustana General Journalism Report
Out of the 18 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #3 spot on the list. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 15 students in 2021-2022.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale General Journalism Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DePaul University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. DePaul is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 34 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Journalism at DePaul University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Loyola University Chicago. The school came in at #5 for the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 29 students in 2021-2022.
With a freshman retention rate of 88%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Loyola Chicago General Journalism Report
North Central College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. North Central is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Naperville, Illinois. It awarded 4 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full North Central College General Journalism Report
Bradley University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #7. Bradley is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 10 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Journalism at Bradley
Eastern Illinois University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Charleston, Illinois, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Journalism at EIU
Illinois State University landed the #9 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Normal, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 32 students in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on General Journalism at Illinois State
Northern Illinois University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #10. This fairly large school is located in Dekalb, Illinois, and it awarded 19 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Journalism at NIU
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #11 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 58 students in 2021-2022.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 93%. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign General Journalism Report
Dominican University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #12. River Forest, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 4 students in 2021-2022.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Journalism at Dominican U
Lewis University did quite well in the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #13. Romeoville, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 3 students in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Lewis University General Journalism Report
Western Illinois University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. This medium-sized school is located in Macomb, Illinois, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.2% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Full WIU General Journalism Report
With a ranking of #15, Concordia University, Chicago did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. River Forest, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 0 students in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.9% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on General Journalism at Concordia University, Chicago
Northwestern University landed the #16 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 0 students in 2021-2022.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 99%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Northwestern General Journalism Report
Roosevelt University landed the #16 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s journalism degrees to 2 students in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.8% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Read full report on General Journalism at Roosevelt
With a ranking of #16, Knox College did quite well on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Knox is located in Galesburg, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 3 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Knox General Journalism Report
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Notes and References
References
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
- *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
- Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.
Credits
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Jfurrer.
