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2024 Best Education Schools in Illinois

41 Colleges in Illinois
10,730 Education Degrees Awarded
$49,951 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on majoring in education, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #4 in the country in terms of popularity. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 41 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for education students pursuing a degree. Combined, these schools handed out 10,730 degrees in education to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Degree-Level Rankings

Choosing a Great Education School

Best Education Schools in Illinois Your choice of education school matters, so we have put together these rankings to help you make your decision. We derive our Best Overall Education 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 Education Degree Level

Associate Degrees in Education
Bachelor's Degrees in Education
Master's Degrees in Education
Doctor's Degrees in Education

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 Education Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision. If you'd like to restrict your choices to just one part of the country, you can filter this list by location.

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.

If you want to learn more about how we derive our rankings, see College Factual's Methodology.


 

Best Schools for Education 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 education degrees they offer, see the list below.

10 Top Illinois Schools in Education

1
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
92 Education Degrees Awarded
$51,813 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in education has to look into Northwestern University. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston. A Best Colleges rank of #5 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Northwestern is a great university overall.

There were approximately 92 education students who graduated with this degree at Northwestern in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the education program make about $51,813 for their early career.

More information about a degree in education from Northwestern University

2
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
567 Education Degrees Awarded
6.9% Growth in Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting a degree in education. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a very large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #34 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means UIUC is a great university overall.

There were approximately 567 education students who graduated with this degree at UIUC in the most recent year we have data available. Graduates who receive their degree from the education program earn about $47,555 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
46 Education Degrees Awarded
$53,408 Median Starting Salary

Any student pursuing a degree in education needs to look into University of Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #2 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means UChicago is a great university overall.

There were approximately 46 education students who graduated with this degree at UChicago in the most recent data year. Degree recipients from the education program at University of Chicago get $3,457 above the average college graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a degree in education from University of Chicago

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
178 Education Degrees Awarded
$49,158 Median Starting Salary

Every student pursuing a degree in education needs to take a look at Loyola University Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #137 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Loyola Chicago is a great university overall.

There were approximately 178 education students who graduated with this degree at Loyola Chicago in the most recent year we have data available. Students who receive their degree from the education program earn around $49,158 for their early career.

More information about a degree in education from Loyola University Chicago

5
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
956 Education Degrees Awarded
1.2% Growth in Graduates

Located in the suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a fairly large student population. A Best Colleges rank of #231 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Illinois State is a great university overall.

There were approximately 956.0000000000001 education students who graduated with this degree at Illinois State in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the education program report average early career wages of $42,536.

More information about a degree in education from Illinois State University

6
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
987 Education Degrees Awarded
$59,272 Median Starting Salary

Concordia University, Chicago is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the suburb of River Forest. A Best Colleges rank of #170 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Concordia University, Chicago is a great university overall.

There were about 987 education students who graduated with this degree at Concordia University, Chicago in the most recent data year. Those education students who get their degree from Concordia University, Chicago receive $9,321 more than the standard education graduate.

More information about a degree in education from Concordia University, Chicago

7
Augustana crest
Augustana College
Rock Island, IL
Bachelor's Degree Highest Degree Type
59 Education Degrees Awarded
25.4% Growth in Graduates

Augustana is a small private not-for-profit college located in the small city of Rock Island. This college ranks 21st out of 85 schools for overall quality in the state of Illinois.

There were about 59 education students who graduated with this degree at Augustana in the most recent data year. Graduates who receive their degree from the education program make around $38,064 in their early career salary.

More information about a degree in education from Augustana College

8
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
114 Education Degrees Awarded
3.5% Growth in Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population. A Best Colleges rank of #309 out of 2,217 schools nationwide means Bradley is a great university overall.

There were roughly 114 education students who graduated with this degree at Bradley in the most recent data year. Students who graduate with their degree from the education program state that they receive average early career income of $38,439.

More information about a degree in education from Bradley University

9
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
452 Education Degrees Awarded
13.5% Growth in Graduates

Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly 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 452 education students who graduated with this degree at DePaul in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, education degree recipients generally make around $50,001 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a degree in education from DePaul University

10
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
82 Education Degrees Awarded
12.2% Growth in Graduates

Wheaton College Illinois is a small private not-for-profit college located in the suburb of Wheaton. A Best Colleges rank of #257 out of 2,217 colleges nationwide means Wheaton College Illinois is a great college overall.

There were about 82 education students who graduated with this degree at Wheaton College Illinois in the most recent year we have data available. Soon after graduation, education degree recipients generally earn around $32,049 in the first five years of their career.

More information about a degree in education from Wheaton College Illinois


 

Best Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Education Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Indiana 38 10,390
Michigan 38 5,598
Ohio 38 8,875
Wisconsin 37 5,311

View All Rankings >

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 3,579
Educational Administration 1,825
Teacher Education Subject Specific 1,676
Special Education 1,153
Curriculum & Instruction 1,019
General Education 466
Student Counseling 336
Instructional Media Design 181
Teaching English or French 181
Multilingual Education 86

View All Education Related Majors >

Notes and References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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