2022 Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

General Architecture is the 111th most popular major in the country with 5,051 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, general architecture graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $46,998 and had an average of $41,356 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 197 general architecture graduates with average earnings and debt of $45,625 and $42,290 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 62 general architecture graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in general architecture. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality general architecture programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general architecture program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank General Architecture Schools

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 Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college 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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois.

Top 3 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for General Architecture in Illinois

#1

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$32,928 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$53,108 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, this fairly large public school handed out 34 diplomas to qualified masters’s architecture students in 2019-2020.

SIUC also made our “Best General Architecture Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at SIUC are $32,928.

Read full report on General Architecture at SIUC

#2

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$27,036 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$50,856 Average Early-Career Earnings

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 11 masters’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best General Architecture Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIC are $27,036, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full University of Illinois at Chicago General Architecture Report

#3

Judson University

Elgin, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$18,900 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$55,693 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Judson University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Architecture Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Judson University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Elgin, Illinois. It awarded 11 masters’s architecture degrees in 2019-2020.

Judson did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Architecture Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Judson University are $18,900, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about General Architecture at Judson

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for General Architecture in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for General Architecture

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

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees 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 Danichou.

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