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2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

7 Ranked Colleges
654 Degrees Awarded
$14,800 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 6,199 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 116th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,077 and had an average of $35,743 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 654 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $51,600 and $37,312 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great public policy programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public policy program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k.

Top 7 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 511 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $2,800 for Illinois Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UChicago.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full UChicago Public Policy Report

#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #2 spot on the list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 66 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $3,995 for illinois public policy students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Northwestern University.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Northwestern

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 27 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also took the #3 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $11,185 for illinois public policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

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%.

Full University of Illinois at Chicago Public Policy Report

#4

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Olivet Nazarene University. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Olivet Nazarene University is a small school located in Bourbonnais, Illinois that handed out 2 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois public policy students whose families make $30-$48k list, Olivet Nazarene has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene University is $15,390 for illinois public policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Olivet Nazarene University

#5

National Louis University

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend National Louis University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NLU, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for NLU is $14,403 for Illinois Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on Public Policy at NLU

#6

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Loyola University Chicago did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #6. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 12 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Loyola Chicago, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Loyola Chicago is $29,788 for Illinois Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Loyola Chicago Public Policy Report

#7

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 27 students in 2019-2020.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend DePaul University is $25,842 for Illinois Public Policy students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at DePaul

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.

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