Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

10 Ranked Colleges
79 Degrees Awarded
$20,800 Avg Net Price*
Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 29,936 people earned their degree in general education, making the major the 28th most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 423 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 79 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer a degree in general education. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general education programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the general education program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank General Education Schools

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 General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college 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. 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.

Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid.

Top 10 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education in Illinois (With Aid)

#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 13 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $15,880 for illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid.

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 more about General Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#2

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, Illinois
#8 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Concordia University, Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. This medium-sized school is located in River Forest, Illinois, and it awarded 7 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Concordia University, Chicago, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Concordia University, Chicago is $16,512 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree General Education students with aid.

Read more about General Education at Concordia University, Chicago

#3

Illinois College

Jacksonville, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois College. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Illinois College is a small school located in Jacksonville, Illinois that handed out 2 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois College did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $16,562 for illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid per year to attend Illinois College.

Read full report on General Education at Illinois College

#4

Greenville University

Greenville, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Greenville University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Greenville, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 4 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s general education students in 2019-2020.

Greenville not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Greenville is $20,689 for illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about General Education at Greenville

#5

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Elmhurst University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit institution located in Elmhurst, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Elmhurst also took the #4 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst is $21,485 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree General Education students with aid.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Elmhurst University General Education Report

#6

McKendree University

Lebanon, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

McKendree University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Lebanon, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s general education degrees to 10 students in 2019-2020.

McKendree also made our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $19,844 for illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid per year to attend McKendree.

Read full report on General Education at McKendree

#7

Lake Forest College

Lake Forest, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

Lake Forest College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Lake Forest College is located in Lake Forest, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 11 bachelors’s general education degrees to qualified students.

Lake Forest also took the #2 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $26,426 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree General Education students with aid per year to attend Lake Forest.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Lake Forest College General Education Report

#8

Trinity Christian College

Palos Heights, Illinois
#9 in overall quality

Trinity Christian College landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. This small school is located in Palos Heights, Illinois, and it awarded 3 bachelors’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.

Trinity Christian not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Trinity Christian is $21,904 for illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 5.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive 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.

Read more about General Education at Trinity Christian

#9

Roosevelt University

Chicago, Illinois
#10 in overall quality

With a ranking of #9, Roosevelt University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Roosevelt is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s general education degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid list, Roosevelt has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Roosevelt University is $22,749 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree General Education students with aid.

Read full report on General Education at Roosevelt

#10

Illinois Wesleyan University

Bloomington, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Illinois Wesleyan University landed the #10 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Illinois Wesleyan is located in Bloomington, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s general education degrees to qualified students.

Illinois Wesleyan also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $26,039 for illinois bachelor’s degree general education students with aid per year to attend Illinois Wesleyan.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%.

Read full report on General Education at Illinois Wesleyan

Switch to a Different Ranking Method

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 KOKUYO.

Featured Schools

Find Schools Near You