by our College Data Analytics TeamPrairie State College is a public institution in Chicago Heights, Illinois enrolling 2,443 undergraduates. It has an on-time graduation rate of 21%, below the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #2,209 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 43%), 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.
Prairie State College ranks #2,209 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 43%.
College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.
Prairie State College was awarded 51 badges in the 2027 rankings.
Prairie State College is ranked #2,209 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list.
Prairie State College also holds the #106 spot on the Best Colleges in Illinois ranking.
See all of the rankings for Prairie State College.
Learn more about Prairie State College admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at Prairie State College is an impressive 12 to 1. That’s quite good when you compare it to the national average of 15 to 1. This is a good sign that students at the school will have more opportunities for one-on-one interactions with their professors.
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 Prairie State College is 30%. This is lower than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate is a sign of how many full-time students like a college or university well enough to come back for their sophomore year. At Prairie State College this rate is 51%, which is a bit lower than the national average of 68%.
The on-time graduation rate is the percent of first-time, full time students who obtain their bachelor’s degree in four years or less. This rate is 21% for first-time, full-time students at Prairie State College, which is lower than the national rate of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Prairie State College.
In the current academic year, there are 2,443 undergraduates at Prairie State College.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Prairie State College.
The overall average net price of Prairie State 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 + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $3,546 | $3,013 | $7,839 | $11,127 | $13,908 |
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 Prairie State College, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Prairie State College, approximately 8% of students took out student loans averaging $6,493 a year. That adds up to $25,972 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 12.9%. This is higher than the national default rate of 10.1% so you should proceed with caution when taking out student loans. Get more details about paying for Prairie State College.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from Prairie State College with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $36,696 in their early years. Unfortunately, this is 25% less than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. However, graduates in your major field may make more.
See which majors at Prairie State College make the most money.
Prairie State College is an public institution found in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Chicago Heights is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center. Get more details about the location of Prairie State College.
Contact information for Prairie State College are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 202 South Halsted Street, Chicago Heights, IL 60411-8226 |
| Phone: | 7087093500 |
| Website: | www.prairiestate.edu |
In the latest year of available data, students from 15 majors graduated from Prairie State 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 | 925 | NA |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 380 | $29,171 |
| Nursing & Nursing Assistants | 119 | NA |
| Allied Health Professions | 82 | $37,124 |
| Fire Protection | 48 | NA |
| Nursing | 39 | $58,132 |
| Dental Support Services | 38 | $48,414 |
| Allied Health Services | 37 | NA |
| Vehicle Maintenance & Repair | 35 | NA |
| Information Technology | 25 | NA |
1,257 students took at least one online class at Prairie State College.
Online courses are a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
Learn more about online learning at Prairie State College.
Want to see how other colleges compare to Prairie State College? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
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.