2025 Best Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Area Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #85 most popular bachelor's degree program in the country. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

College Factual reviewed 2 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of area studies. Combined, these schools handed out 73 bachelor's degrees in area studies to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on area studies students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other area studies students want to attend this school to pursue a bachelor's degree.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for area studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their bachelor's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized area studies related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for area studies students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Area Studies Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Area Studies Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique 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.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Area Studies in Illinois

Learn about the top ranked colleges and universities for area studies students seeking a a bachelor's degree.

Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Area Studies

1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

13 Annual Graduates

$24,332 Median Starting Salary

It's hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in area studies. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the area studies program state that they receive average early career wages of $24,332.

More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

14 Annual Graduates

University of Illinois at Chicago is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in area studies. UIC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in area studies from University of Illinois at Chicago

Best Area Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Area Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	261	103
Ohio	252	146
Indiana	235	62
Wisconsin	213	51

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Area Studies

Area Studies is one of 2 different types of Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies programs to choose from.

Area Studies Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
African Studies	13
Latin American Studies	13
East Asian Studies	11
Asian Studies	9
American U.S. Studies	8
German Studies	6
Near & Middle Eastern Studies	4
Japanese Studies	3
French Studies	2
Italian Studies	2

Majors Similar to Area Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Ethnic Studies	163

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Karl Udo Gerth. More about our data sources and methodologies.