by our College Data Analytics Team
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking.
Journalism is the 69th most popular major in the country with 13,552 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, journalism graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $32,953 and had an average of $23,734 in loans still to pay off.
Across Illinois, there were 332 journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $33,522 and $23,595 respectively.
For this year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 21 colleges that offer a degree in journalism. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in journalism.
See our ranking methodology to learn more.
Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.
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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois journalism students.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Columbia is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 43 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
Out of the 21 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Augustana College landed the #2 spot on the list. Augustana College is a small school located in Rock Island, Illinois that handed out 14 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.5% 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 school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Out of the 21 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #3 spot on the list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 65 students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% 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%.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #4 for the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 28 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
Out of the 21 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, School of the Art Institute of Chicago landed the #5 spot on the list. School of the Art Institute of Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 8 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Full School of the Art Institute of Chicago Journalism Report
With a ranking of #6, Loyola University Chicago did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 39 students in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.7% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.
North Central College landed the #7 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. North Central College is located in Naperville, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 6 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Bradley University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Bradley University is a medium-sized school located in Peoria, Illinois that handed out 9 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
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 school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Eastern Illinois University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #9. EIU is located in Charleston, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 10 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
Illinois State University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #10. Illinois State is a large public school situated in Normal, Illinois. It awarded 29 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.6% 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%.
Northern Illinois University ranked #11 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Northern Illinois University is a fairly large school located in Dekalb, Illinois that handed out 17 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
University of Illinois at Springfield came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. University of Illinois at Springfield is a small public school situated in Springfield, Illinois. It awarded 4 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Journalism at University of Illinois at Springfield
With a ranking of #13, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 53 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%.
Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Journalism Report
Dominican University landed the #14 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Dominican University is a small school located in River Forest, Illinois that handed out 2 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The impressive undergraduate 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 undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 4.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #15, Lewis University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Located in Romeoville, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 3 degrees to qualified ’s journalism students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #16, Western Illinois University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Western Illinois University is a medium-sized public school situated in Macomb, Illinois. It awarded 3 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
With a ranking of #17, Concordia University, Chicago did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in River Forest, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.1% 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%.
Benedictine University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #18. Benedictine U is located in Lisle, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Roosevelt University ranked #18 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Roosevelt University is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
With a ranking of #18, Northwestern University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 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 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Knox College came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Knox College is a small school located in Galesburg, Illinois that handed out 0 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
