2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Liberal Arts is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 2nd of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 365,980 degrees were awarded to students with this major.

Across Illinois, there were 23,860 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 16 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 2 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in liberal arts. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent liberal arts programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the liberal arts program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Liberal Studies 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.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

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

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 2 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

#1

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

$11,996 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Illinois University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s liberal studies degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at WIU, the school also landed the #0 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Western Illinois University are $11,996.

Full WIU Liberal Arts Report

#2

North Central College

Naperville, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$15,822 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, North Central College landed the #2 spot on the list. North Central is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Naperville, Illinois. It awarded 9 masters’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at North Central, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at North Central College are $15,822, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Full North Central Liberal Arts Report

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

Featured Liberal Arts Schools

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