2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban Studies in Illinois (With Aid)

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Urban Studies is the 210th most popular major in the country with 1,475 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, urban studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $37,971 and had an average of $24,376 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 46 urban studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $18,750 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 40 urban studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 3 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in urban studies. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent urban studies programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the urban studies program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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 Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban Studies in Illinois (With Aid)

#1

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$13,312 Average Net Price

$38,289 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 30 bachelors’s urban studies degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Urban Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $13,312 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Urban Studies students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Urban Studies at UIC

#2

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$21,485 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Elmhurst University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Elmhurst is located in Elmhurst, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 4 bachelors’s urban studies degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree urban studies students with aid list, Elmhurst has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Urban Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst University is $21,485 for illinois bachelor’s degree urban studies students with aid.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Urban Studies at Elmhurst

#3

Wheaton College Illinois

Wheaton, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$25,358 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Wheaton College Illinois. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Urban Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. Wheaton College Illinois is a private not-for-profit institution located in Wheaton, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 6 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Wheaton College Illinois not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Urban Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $25,358 for illinois bachelor’s degree urban studies students with aid per year to attend Wheaton College Illinois.

The low student loan default rate of 0.7% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Urban Studies at Wheaton College Illinois

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban Studies in the Great Lakes Region (With Aid)
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban Studies (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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Andrew Bossi.

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