2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Journalism is the 62nd most popular major in the country with 14,528 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,042 and had an average of $24,628 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 627 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,000 and $27,965 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 153 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 4 colleges that offer a degree in journalism. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great journalism programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the journalism program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list to help you make the college decision.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$56,567 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$44,571 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s journalism degrees to 120 students in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also took the #1 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Journalism at Northwestern University

#2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$30,083 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 4 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #2 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree journalism students whose families make $0-$30k list, UIUC has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083.

Full UIUC Journalism Report

#3

University of Illinois at Springfield

Springfield, Illinois

$16,757 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Springfield. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Springfield, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s journalism degrees to 4 students in 2019-2020.

UIS also made our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #0. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Springfield are $16,757, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Illinois at Springfield Journalism Report

#4

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$19,760 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$37,568 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DePaul University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. DePaul is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 20 masters’s journalism degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at DePaul, the school also landed the #3 spot in our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul are $19,760.

Read full report on Journalism at DePaul University

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $0-$30k)

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

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees 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.

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