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2024 Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

34 Colleges in Illinois
2,155 Bachelor's Degrees
$49,371 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #8 in popularity, accounting is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

For its 2024 ranking, College Factual looked at 34 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for accounting students pursuing a bachelor's degree. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 2,155 bachelor's degrees in accounting during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Accounting School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The accounting bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality accounting program can vary widely even among the top schools. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for accounting students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Accounting Schools

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Accounting Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois list, to help you choose the best school for you.

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.


 

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Accounting in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Accounting

1
385 Annual Graduates
$65,425 Median Starting Salary
$20,500 Median Student Debt

It is difficult to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in accounting. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.

Bachelor's recipients from the accounting degree program at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign earn $16,054 more than the standard graduate with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
228 Annual Graduates
$61,704 Median Starting Salary
$24,500 Median Student Debt

DePaul University is a great decision for students interested in a bachelor's degree in accounting. DePaul is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.

Bachelor's recipients from the accounting degree program at DePaul University earn $12,333 above the standard graduate with the same degree shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from DePaul University

3
82 Annual Graduates
$62,124 Median Starting Salary
$22,125 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in accounting has to look into Loyola University Chicago. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Bachelor's recipients from the accounting degree program at Loyola University Chicago make $12,753 more than the average college grad in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Loyola University Chicago

4
166 Annual Graduates
$53,944 Median Starting Salary
$18,750 Median Student Debt

University of Illinois at Chicago is a great choice for individuals pursuing a bachelor's degree in accounting. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a very large student population.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from University of Illinois at Chicago get an earnings boost of approximately $4,573 above the typical income of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from University of Illinois at Chicago

5
46 Annual Graduates
$58,768 Median Starting Salary
$26,925 Median Student Debt

Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from Bradley University make $9,397 more than the standard accounting grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Bradley University

6
188 Annual Graduates
$54,480 Median Starting Salary
$22,482 Median Student Debt

Illinois State is a very large public university located in the suburb of Normal.

Those accounting students who get their bachelor's degree from Illinois State University make $5,109 more than the standard accounting grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Illinois State University

7
22 Annual Graduates
$61,838 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Illinois Wesleyan is a small private not-for-profit university located in the city of Bloomington.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Illinois Wesleyan University earn a boost of around $12,467 above the typical income of accounting graduates.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Illinois Wesleyan University

8
138 Annual Graduates
$53,726 Median Starting Salary
$18,500 Median Student Debt

Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a fairly large student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the accounting major at Northern Illinois University make $4,355 more than the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Northern Illinois University

9
19 Annual Graduates
$50,256 Median Starting Salary
$23,325 Median Student Debt

Benedictine U is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Lisle.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the accounting program earn an average of $50,256 for their early career.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Benedictine University

10
Augustana crest
Augustana College
Rock Island, IL
50 Annual Graduates
$54,498 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the city of Rock Island, Augustana is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Accounting bachelor's degree recipients from Augustana College earn a boost of about $5,127 over the typical income of accounting majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in accounting from Augustana College

Best Accounting Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Accounting Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 1,631
Ohio 252 2,198
Indiana 235 967
Wisconsin 213 1,013

View All Rankings >

Accounting is one of 21 different types of Business, Management & Marketing programs to choose from.

Accounting Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Accounting 2,155

Related Major Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management 4,889
Finance & Financial Management 1,725
Marketing 1,697
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods 872
General Business/Commerce 453
Management Information Systems 382
Human Resource Management 294
Business/Managerial Economics 200
International Business 163
Hospitality Management 139

Notes and References

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