2022 Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities is one of the most popular majors in the nation, ranking 3rd of all the majors we analyze. In 2019-2020, 559,661 degrees were awarded to students with this major. In 2017-2018, liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $26,786 and had an average of $16,538 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 27,169 liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates with average earnings and debt of $26,138 and $14,095 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 206 liberal arts / sciences and humanities graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in liberal arts / sciences and humanities. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

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

More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois master’s degree liberal arts / sciences & humanities students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 5 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$61,548 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 147 masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago also took the #1 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities 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 UChicago are $61,548.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at UChicago

#2

University of Illinois at Springfield

Springfield, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$16,757 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Springfield. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Illinois at Springfield is a public institution located in Springfield, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 3 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIS, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIS are $16,757, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at UIS

#3

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 #3 for the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

WIU also made our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #0. Average graduate tuition and fees at WIU are $11,996, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Western Illinois University

#4

North Central College

Naperville, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$15,822 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, North Central College landed the #4 spot on the list. North Central is located in Naperville, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 30 masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees to qualified students.

North Central did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at North Central College are $15,822, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at North Central

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$19,760 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DePaul University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools for a Master’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. DePaul University is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 19 masters’s liberal arts / sciences and humanities degrees to qualified students.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul are $19,760.

Read more about Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at DePaul University

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities (Income $0-$30k) in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities (Income $0-$30k)

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 Jacques Sablet (Switzerland, Morges, 1749-1803).

Featured Liberal Arts Schools

Request Info

Southern New Hampshire University You have goals. Southern New Hampshire University can help you get there. Whether you need a bachelor's degree to get into a career or want a master's degree to move up in your current career, SNHU has an online program for you. Find your degree from over 200 online programs ... Learn More >