2022 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in Illinois (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking is part of that endeavor.

With 365,980 degrees handed out in 2019-2020, liberal arts is the 2nd most popular major in the United States.

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.

For this year’s “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 2 colleges that offer a degree 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.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the liberal arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’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. 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 Getting Aid

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois master’s degree liberal studies students with aid.

Top 2 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in Illinois (With Aid)

#1

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

$11,996 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 2 schools in the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the #1 spot on the list. WIU is a medium-sized public school situated in Macomb, Illinois. It awarded 1 masters’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree liberal studies students with aid list, WIU has also earned the #0 rank 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 Western Illinois University 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 Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, North Central College landed the #2 spot on the list. North Central College 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. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at North Central College are $15,822.

Read more about Liberal Arts at North Central

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in the Great Lakes Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts (With Aid)

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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