by our College Data Analytics Team
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 Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.
General Journalism is the 69th most popular major in the country with 10,697 degrees awarded in 2021-2022.
Across Illinois, there were 308 general journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking analyzed 19 colleges that offered a degree in general journalism. That schools that top this list have a program in general journalism in which the largest percentage of students at the school are enrolled.
Check out our ranking methodology for more information.
The journalism school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois”.
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. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.
The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois”.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Columbia College Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 20 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
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%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Augustana College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Augustana is a small school located in Rock Island, Illinois that handed out 17 ’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Out of the 19 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 55 degrees to qualified ’s journalism students 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%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 15 students in 2021-2022.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.4% 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 Southern Illinois University Carbondale General Journalism Report
Out of the 19 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Loyola University Chicago landed the #5 spot on the list. Loyola University Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 29 ’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.6% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 88%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read full report on General Journalism at Loyola University Chicago
North Central College did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #6. Located in Naperville, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 4 degrees to qualified ’s journalism students 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%.
Bradley University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #7. Bradley University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Peoria, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 10 ’s degrees in 2021-2022.
With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. 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%.
Eastern Illinois University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Eastern Illinois University is a public institution located in Charleston, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 12 ’s 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 Eastern Illinois University
With a ranking of #9, Illinois State University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. This large school is located in Normal, Illinois, and it awarded 32 ’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Journalism at Illinois State University
Northern Illinois University ranked #10 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Located in Dekalb, Illinois, this fairly large public school handed out 19 degrees to qualified ’s journalism students 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%.
University of Illinois at Springfield ranked #11 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Springfield, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 8 students in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 70 ’s degrees in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.6% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on General Journalism at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dominican University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Dominican University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in River Forest, Illinois. It awarded 4 ’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.9% 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%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.
Lewis University landed the #14 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Lewis University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Romeoville, Illinois. It awarded 3 ’s journalism degrees 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%.
Western Illinois University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #15. Western Illinois University is a medium-sized school located in Macomb, Illinois that handed out 1 ’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.2%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about General Journalism at Western Illinois University
Concordia University, Chicago came in at #16 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Concordia University, Chicago is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in River Forest, Illinois. It awarded 0 ’s journalism degrees 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 more about General Journalism at Concordia University, Chicago
With a ranking of #17, Roosevelt University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Roosevelt is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 2 ’s journalism degrees in 2021-2022.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Northwestern University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #17. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 0 students in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.1% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 99%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.
Read more about General Journalism at Northwestern University
With a ranking of #17, Knox College did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Located in Galesburg, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 3 diplomas to qualified ’s journalism students in 2021-2022.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.0% 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 more about our data sources and methodologies
