2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

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 $30-$48k” 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.

This year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in journalism. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent journalism programs, but they also 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.

More Ways to Rank Journalism Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois master’s degree journalism students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 4 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $30-$48k) 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 $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Northwestern University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 120 masters’s journalism degrees 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 some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Journalism at Northwestern

#2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$30,083 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 5 masters’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 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 $30-$48k. Located in Springfield, Illinois, this small public school awarded 4 degrees to qualified masters’s journalism 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 UIS are $16,757, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Journalism at UIS

#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 $30-$48k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 20 degrees to qualified masters’s journalism students in 2019-2020.

DePaul not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul University are $19,760.

Read more about Journalism at DePaul

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $30-$48k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $30-$48k)

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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