Find Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Find Schools Near

2022 Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

5 Ranked Colleges
73 Degrees Awarded
$16,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

Photography is the 291st most popular major in the country with 2,438 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across Illinois, there were 73 photography graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 5 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in photography. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great photography programs and 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 photography program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Photography Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 5 Best Value Colleges for Photography (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k 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 photography degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois photography students whose families make $0-$30k list, UIUC has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Photography Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $5,477 for illinois photography students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UIUC.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Photography at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Illinois at Chicago is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 1 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also took the #4 spot in our “Best Photography Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $10,648 for illinois photography students whose families make $0-$30k.

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 UIC Photography Report

#3

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Peoria, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s photography degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bradley, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Photography Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Bradley is $17,205 for Illinois Photography students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Photography at Bradley University

#4

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Columbia College Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Columbia College Chicago is a medium-sized school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 49 ’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

Columbia also made our “Best Photography Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $27,120 for illinois photography students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Columbia.

Read full report on Photography at Columbia College Chicago

#5

American Academy of Art

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Academy of Art. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Photography Schools in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. The Academy is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 ’s photography degrees to qualified students.

The Academy not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best Photography Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for The Academy is $23,987 for illinois photography students whose families make $0-$30k.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Photography at The Academy

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.

Featured Photography / Film Studies Schools

Find Schools Near You