2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools Highly Focused on Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2021-2022, 4,517 people earned their degree in public relations, advertising, & applied communication, making the major the 170th most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 35 public relations, advertising, & applied communication graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public relations, advertising, & applied communication. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their public relations, advertising, & applied communication program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.

See our ranking methodology to learn more.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The public relations, advertising, and applied communication 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 Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Schools Highly Focused on Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois public relations, advertising, and applied communication students.

Top 3 Most Focused Colleges for Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication in Illinois

1

Bradley University
Peoria, Illinois

#11 overall quality in Illinois

$52,822 Average Early-Career Earnings

$31,532 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bradley University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois list. Bradley is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 25 ’s public relations, advertising, and applied communication degrees to qualified 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read more about Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication at Bradley

2

McKendree University
Lebanon, Illinois

$47,532 Average Early-Career Earnings

$22,830 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend McKendree University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois list. Located in Lebanon, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 8 diplomas to qualified ’s public relations, advertising, and applied communication 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%.

Read full report on Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication at McKendree

3

Saint Xavier University
Chicago, Illinois

$46,594 Average Early-Career Earnings

$26,564 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Xavier University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication Major in Illinois list. This small school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 2 ’s public relations, advertising, and applied communication degrees in 2021-2022.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Relations, Advertising, & Applied Communication at Saint Xavier University

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

• *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 Bill Koplitz.