2023 Most Popular Colleges for Library Science in Illinois

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Library Science is the 35th most popular major in the country with 6,538 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, library science graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $43,990 and had an average of $24,604 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 113 library science graduates with average earnings and debt of $42,884 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in library science. This ranking identifies schools that graduate the most students in library science.

Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Library Science Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois library science students.

Top 7 Most Popular Colleges for Library Science in Illinois

1

Dominican University
River Forest, Illinois

$42,201 Average Early-Career Earnings

$26,690 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Dominican University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois list. Dominican University is a small school located in River Forest, Illinois that handed out 66 ’s library science degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. 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.

Full Dominican U Library Science Report

2

College of DuPage
Glen Ellyn, Illinois

$24,970 Average Early-Career Earnings

$12,316 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend College of DuPage. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois list. COD is a large school located in Glen Ellyn, Illinois that handed out 26 ’s library science degrees in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Library Science at College of DuPage

3

Chicago State University
Chicago, Illinois

$44,850 Average Early-Career Earnings

$45,557 Average Student Debt

Out of the 7 schools in the Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Chicago State University landed the #3 spot on the list. This small school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 5 ’s library science degrees in 2020-2021.

Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Read more about Library Science at Chicago State University

4

Illinois Central College
East Peoria, Illinois

$36,732 Average Early-Career Earnings

$9,567 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois Central College. The school came in at #4 for the Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois. ICC is a medium-sized school located in East Peoria, Illinois that handed out 2 ’s library science degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Library Science at ICC

4

City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College
Chicago, Illinois

$27,991 Average Early-Career Earnings

$6,185 Average Student Debt

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College. The school came in at #4 for the Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois. This medium-sized school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 6 ’s library science degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Library Science at City Colleges of Chicago - Wilbur Wright College

4

Kaskaskia College
Centralia, Illinois

$35,724 Average Early-Career Earnings

$6,243 Average Student Debt

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Kaskaskia College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois list. Centralia, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s library science degrees to 1 students in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Library Science at Kaskaskia College

7

College of Lake County
Grayslake, Illinois

#22 overall quality in Illinois

$53,083 Average Early-Career Earnings

$12,665 Average Student Debt

College of Lake County came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Well Attended Library Science Major in Illinois ranking. This fairly large school is located in Grayslake, Illinois, and it awarded 0 ’s library science degrees in 2020-2021.

Read more about Library Science at College of Lake County

• Most Popular Colleges for Library Science in the Great Lakes Region
• Most Popular Colleges for Library Science

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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to John Cummings.