2025 Best Mathematics Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Mathematics is of the hottest bachelor's degree programs in the United States, coming in as the #25 most popular major in the country. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Mathematics Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 761 bachelor's degrees in mathematics to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Mathematics School for Your Bachelor's Degree

The math bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How much a school focuses on mathematics students vs. other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of mathematics students who choose to seek a bachelor's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How much debt mathematics students go into to obtain their bachelor's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized mathematics related body.

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

More Ways to Rank Mathematics Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Mathematics Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Mathematics in Illinois

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in mathematics.

Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Math

1

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

169 Annual Graduates

$100,421 Median Starting Salary

It's difficult to beat University of Chicago if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in mathematics. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Mathematics bachelor's degree recipients from University of Chicago receive an earnings boost of approximately $38,582 above the average earnings of mathematics majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Chicago

2

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

62 Annual Graduates

$79,530 Median Starting Salary

Northwestern University is a good decision for students pursuing a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Mathematics bachelor's degree recipients from Northwestern University earn a boost of around $17,691 over the average income of mathematics majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Northwestern University

3

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

182 Annual Graduates

$48,728 Median Starting Salary

$46,422 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in mathematics needs to check out University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the math program state that they receive average early career income of $48,728.

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

4

Illinois State University
Normal, IL

47 Annual Graduates

$52,597 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in mathematics has to take a look at Illinois State University. Illinois State is a very large public university located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

After graduation, math bachelor's recipients typically make an average of $52,597 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Illinois State University

5

DePaul University
Chicago, IL

17 Annual Graduates

$55,586 Median Starting Salary

DePaul is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the math program state that they receive average early career income of $55,586.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from DePaul University

6

Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL

29 Annual Graduates

$44,857 Median Starting Salary

Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the math program report average early career income of $44,857.

More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Northern Illinois University

7

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

27 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Illinois at Chicago

8

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL

18 Annual Graduates

SIUE is a large public university located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

9

University of Illinois at Springfield
Springfield, IL

19 Annual Graduates

UIS is a small public university located in the midsize city of Springfield.More information about a bachelor’s in mathematics from University of Illinois at Springfield

Best Mathematics Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	261	602
Ohio	252	683
Indiana	235	483
Wisconsin	213	596

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Math

One of 4 majors within the Mathematics & Statistics area of study, Mathematics has other similar majors worth exploring.

Math Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
General Mathematics	761

Most Popular Majors Related to Math

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Statistics	520
Applied Mathematics	85
Other Statistics	3

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.