2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $75-$110k) in Illinois
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking.
In 2019-2020, 14,528 people earned their degree in journalism, making the major the 62nd most popular in the United States. 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 bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 474 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking looked at 15 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.
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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 Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” 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 Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k.
Top 15 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Journalism (Income $75-$110k) in Illinois
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 151 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.
Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $16,784 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Northwestern.
Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Out of the 15 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k 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 located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 61 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
UIUC also made our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. It costs about $21,998 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend UIUC.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low 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%.
Read full report on Journalism at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k. This fairly large school is located in Dekalb, Illinois, and it awarded 28 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.
NIU also took the #10 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for NIU is $21,425 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. SIUC is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 30 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
SIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #12 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $20,698 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Out of the 15 schools in the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k that were part of this year’s ranking, Augustana College landed the #5 spot on the list. Augustana College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Rock Island, Illinois. It awarded 22 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.
Augustana did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $23,730 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Augustana College.
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 student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Eastern Illinois University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k ranking. Located in Charleston, Illinois, this medium-sized public school awarded 13 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s journalism students in 2019-2020.
EIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #14 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Eastern Illinois University is $19,147 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
Dominican University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k ranking, coming in at #7. Dominican U is a small school located in River Forest, Illinois that handed out 1 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k list, Dominican U has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Dominican University is $21,979 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
The 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.
Western Illinois University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k ranking, coming in at #8. Located in Macomb, Illinois, this medium-sized public school awarded 3 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s journalism students in 2019-2020.
WIU also took the #13 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Western Illinois University is $20,181 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
Illinois State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k ranking, coming in at #9. Illinois State is a public institution located in Normal, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 33 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Illinois State also took the #5 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $25,379 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Illinois State.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
North Central College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Located in Naperville, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 9 degrees to qualified bachelors’s journalism students in 2019-2020.
North Central also made our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #4. The estimated yearly cost for North Central is $25,778 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Concordia University, Chicago came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k ranking. Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in River Forest, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.
Concordia University, Chicago also took the #15 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Concordia University, Chicago is $17,820 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
With a ranking of #12, Bradley University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Bradley is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
Bradley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Bradley is $28,169 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low student loan default rate of 2.5% 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%.
Columbia College Chicago did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k ranking, coming in at #13. 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 34 students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Columbia, the school also landed the #11 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Columbia is $33,864 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
With a ranking of #14, DePaul University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 42 degrees to qualified bachelors’s journalism students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at DePaul, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for DePaul University is $30,877 for illinois bachelor’s degree journalism students whose families make $75-$110k.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Loyola University Chicago ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value Journalism Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. This fairly large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 29 bachelors’s journalism degrees in 2019-2020.
Loyola Chicago not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $36,700 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Journalism students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend Loyola University Chicago.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
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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
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.
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