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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communications in Illinois

7 Ranked Colleges
471 Degrees Awarded
$19,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Communications is the 65th most popular major in the country with 11,861 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across Illinois, there were 517 communications graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 471 communications graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking analyzed 7 colleges that offered a degree in communications. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality communications programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the communications program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois.

Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Communications in Illinois

#1 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 279 bachelors’s communication arts degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Communications Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $15,880 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Communication Arts students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on Communications at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#2

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Eastern Illinois University. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Eastern Illinois University is a medium-sized school located in Charleston, Illinois that handed out 41 bachelors’s communication arts degrees in 2019-2020.

EIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Communications Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Eastern Illinois University is $14,607 for illinois bachelor’s degree communication arts students.

Full Eastern Illinois University Communications Report

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Springfield. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. Springfield, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s communication arts degrees to 32 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree communication arts students list, UIS has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Communications Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $12,477 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Communication Arts students per year to attend UIS.

Read full report on Communications at UIS

#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. UIC is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 86 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree communication arts students list, UIC has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Communications Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIC is $13,312 for illinois bachelor’s degree communication arts students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UIC Communications Report

#5

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Bradley University landed the #5 spot on the list. Bradley University is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s communication arts degrees to qualified students.

Bradley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Communications Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $25,634 for illinois bachelor’s degree communication arts students per year to attend Bradley University.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Bradley University Communications Report

#6

Eureka College

Eureka, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Eureka College came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. This small school is located in Eureka, Illinois, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s communication arts degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Eureka College, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best Communications Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Eureka College is $21,344 for illinois bachelor’s degree communication arts students.

Read more about Communications at Eureka College

#7

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

Columbia College Chicago ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Communication Arts Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. This medium-sized school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 8 bachelors’s communication arts degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree communication arts students list, Columbia has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Communications Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Columbia is $31,099 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Communication Arts students.

Read more about Communications at Columbia College Chicago

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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

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