2024 Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Drama & Theater Arts in Illinois
16
Colleges
212,160
Bachelor's Degrees
$30,583
Avg Cost*
Finding the Best Value Drama & Theater Arts School for You
Drama & Theater Arts is the #27 most popular major in Illinois with 212,160 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2021-2022. This means that 3.9% of the degrees earned in the country were from a school in the state.
This year's Best Value Bachelor's Degree Colleges for Drama & Theater Arts in Illinois ranking looked at 16 colleges that offer a bachelor's in theater. Note that the phrase 'best value' does not mean the absolute lowest-priced. Instead, we are looking at those theater schools that offer a high quality educational experience at a price lower than expected.
Average cost figures start with estimating tuition, fees, room and board, books, and other related expenses. We then subtract the average amount of financial aid that a student receives. You can use this as a gauge to estimate how much you may need to pay out of pocket to cover costs when financial aid isn't enough. Keep in mind that the net cost for you may be higher or lower, depending on your income and other factors.
One Size Does Not Fit All
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 Value Theater Schools list to help you make the college decision.
To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you.
Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.
2024 Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools in Illinois
Check out the theater programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your money.
Top 10 Best Value Drama & Theater Arts Schools
Illinois State University landed the #1 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value drama & theater arts schools. Illinois State is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Normal. In addition to being on our best value list, Illinois State has also earned the #6 rank in our Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in Illinois ranking.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to receive their degree at Illinois State is 4.3 years, and on average, the annual cost to attend the school is $26,419. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from Illinois State is $114,130. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at Illinois State University Report
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #2 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value drama & theater arts schools. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a very large student population. As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIUC, the school also landed the #2 rank in our Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in Illinois ranking.
It takes the average student at UIUC about 4.2 years to graduate, and the yearly average cost to attend the school is $33,662. When we combine these numbers, we estimate that the cost to get a bachelor’s degree from UIUC is $141,717. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #3 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value drama & theater arts schools. UIC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Chicago. UIC not only placed well in our value rankings. It is also #7 on our Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in Illinois list.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to receive their degree at UIC is 4.5 years, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $30,470. Thus, the average cost to get a bachelor’s degree from the UIC is $137,420. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
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Northern Illinois University landed the #4 spot in our 2024 rankings for best value drama & theater arts schools. NIU is a large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to receive their degree at NIU is 4.6 years, and it costs about $20,624 per year to attend the school. This means that the average student pays around $94,870 to get a bachelor’s degree from NIU. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Northern Illinois University
The #5 spot in this year's ranking belongs to Southern Illinois University Carbondale. SIUC is a large public school located in the small city of Carbondale.
The average amount of time it takes for a student to receive their degree at SIUC is 4.4 years, and it costs about $18,799 per year to attend the school. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from SIUC be around $82,716. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.
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Our rankings recognize Southern Illinois University Edwardsville as the #6 school in this year's rankings. SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Edwardsville.
It takes the average student at SIUE about 4.5 years to graduate, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $17,186. Looking at these numbers together, we estimate that the average cost of a bachelor’s degree from SIUE is about $77,509. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.
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Eastern Illinois University comes in at #7 in this year's ranking. Located in the town of Charleston, EIU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.
It takes the average student at EIU about 4.4 years to graduate, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $17,168. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from EIU is $74,681. When you graduate sooner, you can save a lot of money.
Full Drama & Theater Arts at Eastern Illinois University Report
Columbia College Chicago earned the #8 spot in our 2024 rankings. Located in the large city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population. Columbia also made our Best Drama & Theater Arts Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #4.
It takes the average student at Columbia about 4.2 years to graduate, and it costs about $38,202 per year to attend the school. Thus, the average cost to get a bachelor’s degree from the Columbia is $159,302. If you can shave even one term off your degree, you can save a substantial amount of money.
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Our rankings recognize Roosevelt University as the #9 school in this year's rankings. Located in the city of Chicago, Roosevelt is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
It takes the average student at Roosevelt about 4.3 years to graduate, and the average full-time cost to attend the school is around $35,137. This makes the estimated cost of a bachelor’s degree from Roosevelt be around $152,143. The sooner a student graduates, the more money they can save.
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Our rankings recognize Bradley University as the #10 school in this year's rankings. Located in the midsize city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.
It takes the average student at Bradley about 4.2 years to graduate, and the estimated yearly cost for the school is $31,055. Putting this cost and the average time to graduate together, we find that the average amount you’ll pay to get a bachelor’s degree from Bradley is $131,673. Graduating sooner can prevent you from having to pay more money out of pocket.
Read full report on Drama & Theater Arts at Bradley University
More Drama & Theater Arts Rankings in Illinois
One of 10 majors within the Visual & Performing Arts area of study, Drama & Theater Arts has other similar majors worth exploring.
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 16 schools only.
- 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 the rest 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).
- Credit for the banner image above goes to Donald Judge.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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