2024 Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois
9
Colleges in Illinois
446
Public Admin Degrees Awarded
$51,622
Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in
public administration, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #60 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 9 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 446 degrees in public administration during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings
Choosing a Great Public Administration School
Your choice of public administration school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Public Administration School rankings by rolling up our degree-level rankings after weighting them by the number of degrees awarded at each school.
You may want to choose one of the degree levels below to find the schools of most interest to you.
Pick Your Public Administration Degree Level
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 Public Administration Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.
More interested in schools in a specific area of the country? Filter this list by region or state.
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.
Read more about College Factual's methodology.
Best Schools for Public Administration in Illinois
If you aren't interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the public admin degrees they offer, see the list below.
10 Top Illinois Schools in Public Admin
Northwestern University is a wonderful option for students pursuing a degree in public administration. Northwestern is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the small city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.
There were roughly 75 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent data year. Those public administration students who get their degree from Northwestern University receive $14,389 more than the typical public admin graduate.
More information about a degree in public administration from Northwestern University
It is difficult to beat University of Illinois at Springfield if you want to pursue a degree in public administration. Located in the city of Springfield, UIS is a public university with a small student population. This university ranks 55th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 71 public administration students who graduated with this degree at UIS in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the public admin program earn an average of $48,642 for their early career.
More information about a degree in public administration from University of Illinois at Springfield
It is hard to beat University of Illinois at Chicago if you want to pursue a degree in public administration. UIC is a fairly large public university located in the city of Chicago. A Best Colleges rank of #192 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIC is a great university overall.
There were roughly 55 public administration students who graduated with this degree at UIC in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, public admin degree recipients usually earn about $52,003 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in public administration from University of Illinois at Chicago
It's difficult to beat DePaul University if you wish to pursue a degree in public administration. Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #203 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means DePaul is a great university overall.
There were about 50 public administration students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent year we have data available. After graduation, public admin degree recipients typically earn an average of $53,383 at the beginning of their careers.
More information about a degree in public administration from DePaul University
Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public university with a fairly large student population. This university ranks 31st out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 37 public administration students who graduated with this degree at SIUE in the most recent data year. After graduation, public admin degree recipients usually make about $40,957 in their early careers.
More information about a degree in public administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #354 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Aurora is a great university overall.
There were approximately 29 public administration students who graduated with this degree at Aurora in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in public administration from Aurora University
NIU is a fairly large public university located in the small suburb of Dekalb. This university ranks 24th out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 35 public administration students who graduated with this degree at NIU in the most recent data year. Public Administration degree recipients from Northern Illinois University earn a boost of around $7,978 over the average income of public administration majors.
More information about a degree in public administration from Northern Illinois University
GSU is a small public university located in the rural area of University Park. This university ranks 66th out of 85 colleges for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were approximately 19 public administration students who graduated with this degree at GSU in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in public administration from Governors State University
Located in the city of Chicago, NLU is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #393 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means NLU is a great university overall.
There were about 15 public administration students who graduated with this degree at NLU in the most recent year we have data available.
More information about a degree in public administration from National Louis University
Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public university with a large student population. This university ranks 23rd out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.
There were roughly 10 public administration students who graduated with this degree at SIUC in the most recent data year. Students who receive their degree from the public admin program earn around $40,759 in the first couple years of their career.
More information about a degree in public administration from Southern Illinois University Carbondale