by our College Data Analytics TeamWilliam Rainey Harper College is a public institution in Palatine, Illinois enrolling 9,313 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 48%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #617 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 12%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
William Rainey Harper College ranks #617 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 12%.
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
William Rainey Harper College was awarded 320 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Harper College as #617 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Harper College also holds the #31 spot on the Best Colleges in Illinois ranking.
See all of the rankings for William Rainey Harper College.
Learn more about William Rainey Harper College admissions.
At William Rainey Harper College, the student to faculty ratio is 21 to 1. Compared to the national average of 15 to 1, this is somewhat high. This could mean that class sizes may be larger than they are at other colleges or universities or that professors may be required to teach more classes.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at William Rainey Harper College is 36%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 77% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like William Rainey Harper College enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Harper College the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 48%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at William Rainey Harper College.
In the current academic year, there are 9,313 undergraduates at Harper College.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at William Rainey Harper College.
The average net price of Harper College is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9,446 | $10,501 | $13,426 | $16,866 | $18,676 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Harper College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
It’s not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Harper College, approximately 2% of students took out student loans averaging $6,249 a year. That adds up to $24,996 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 15.2%. This is significantly higher than the national default rate of 10.1%, which means you could have trouble paying back your student loans if you take any out. Get more details about paying for William Rainey Harper College.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from William Rainey Harper College make about $48,071 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is in the same neighborhood of the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, certain majors may produce higher-paying graduates.
See which majors at William Rainey Harper College make the most money.
William Rainey Harper College is an public institution located in Palatine, Illinois. Harper College is located in a safe and convenient suburb. Get more details about the location of William Rainey Harper College.
Get in touch with William Rainey Harper College can be found below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 1200 W Algonquin Rd, Palatine, IL 60067-7398 |
| Phone: | 8479256000 |
| Website: | goforward.harpercollege.edu/ |
In the most recent reporting year, students from 22 majors graduated from William Rainey Harper College. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 4,768 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 1,724 | $26,090 |
| Nursing & Nursing Assistants | 640 | NA |
| Biological & Physical Science | 413 | $28,238 |
| Child Development & Family Studies | 155 | NA |
| Precision Metal Working | 140 | NA |
| Accounting | 139 | NA |
| Allied Health Professions | 124 | $58,892 |
| Allied Health Services | 119 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 106 | NA |
5,871 students took at least one online class at William Rainey Harper College.
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
Learn more about online learning at William Rainey Harper College.
Interested in comparing Harper College? Compare them side by side using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.