2023 Best Astronomy Colleges for Veterans in Illinois

With all of the options veterans have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Astronomical Sciences” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Astronomy is the 479th most popular major in the country with 765 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across Illinois, there were 63 astronomy graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Astronomical Sciences” ranking analyzed 2 colleges that offered a degree in astronomy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great astronomy programs and a strong support system for veterans and active service members.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the astronomy program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran satisfaction. 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 “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Astronomical Sciences” list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Astronomical Sciences

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Astronomical Sciences”.

Top 2 Best Astronomy Colleges for Veterans in Illinois

1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois

10 GI Bill® Students**

YES Student Veterans Organization

$71,539 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Astronomical Sciences that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s astronomical sciences degrees to 27 students in 2020-2021.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.According to our most recent data, UIUC supports 52,679 students, and 10 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 0 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $0. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. UIUC offers credit for military training for eligible students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%.

[Read full report on veteran student life at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]](/colleges/university-of-illinois-at-urbana-champaign/student-life/veterans/)

2

University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

241 GI Bill® Students**

YES Student Veterans Organization

$18,948 Average GI Bill® Award

Out of the 2 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Astronomical Sciences that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. UChicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 28 ’s astronomical sciences degrees to qualified students.

UChicago also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].According to our most recent data, University of Chicago supports 17,834 students, and 241 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 113 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $18,948. During this same period, 58 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.

With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read More…

• Best Astronomy Colleges for Veterans in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Astronomy Colleges for Veterans

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).
• Veteran-specific data can be found at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• 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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate are for the top schools only.
• **GI Bill® student total includes all chapters of the GI Bill® program (e.g., Post-9/11, Montgomery GI Bill, Reserve Education Assistance Program, and Veteran Readiness and Employment)
• 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.