2022 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in Illinois

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.

With 68,079 degrees handed out in 2019-2020, communication and media studies is the 9th most popular major in the United States. In 2017-2018, communication and media studies graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $32,728 and had an average of $24,931 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 2,073 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,543 and $26,465 respectively. At the doctor’s degree level specifically, there were 31 communication and media studies graduates with average earnings and debt of $75,900 and $148,219 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois” ranking analyzed 3 colleges that offered a degree in communication and media studies. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality communication and media studies 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 communication and media studies 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 Communication & Media Studies Schools

The communications school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois”.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois doctor’s degree communications students.

Top 4 Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$30,083 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$67,660 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 17 doctorate’s communications degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Communication & Media Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign are $30,083, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at UIUC

#2

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

Carbondale, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$32,928 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$63,005 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois list. SIUC is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 10 doctorate’s communications degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #3 spot in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at SIUC are $32,928, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at SIUC

#3

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$27,036 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #3 spot on the list. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 1 doctorate’s communications degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also took the #4 spot in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Chicago are $27,036.

Read more about Communication & Media Studies at UIC

#3

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$56,567 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Communications Schools for a Doctorate in Illinois list. Northwestern is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 3 doctorate’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois doctor’s degree communications students list, Northwestern has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Communication & Media Studies Doctor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern University are $56,567, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Communication & Media Studies at Northwestern

• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Doctor’s Degree Colleges for Communication & Media Studies

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 UNU-WIDER from Helsinki, Finland.

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