by our College Data Analytics Team
When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. College Factual has developed its “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2020-2021, 11,380 people earned their degree in general journalism, making the major the 69th most popular in the United States.
Across Illinois, there were 317 general journalism graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
For this year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 19 colleges that offer a degree in general journalism. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in general journalism.
For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
The journalism 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 “Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois”.
We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.
The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois journalism students.
Out of the 19 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia College Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 34 diplomas to qualified ’s journalism students in 2020-2021.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Augustana College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Augustana is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Rock Island, Illinois. It awarded 14 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #3 for the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 65 diplomas to qualified ’s journalism students in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 28 students in 2020-2021.
Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale General Journalism Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loyola University Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Loyola University Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 39 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #6, North Central College did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. North Central College is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Naperville, Illinois. It awarded 6 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.6% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Bradley University ranked #7 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Bradley University is a medium-sized school located in Peoria, Illinois that handed out 9 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Eastern Illinois University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. EIU is located in Charleston, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 10 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
Illinois State University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Illinois State is a large school located in Normal, Illinois that handed out 29 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #10, Northern Illinois University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Dekalb, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s journalism degrees to 17 students in 2020-2021.
Read more about General Journalism at Northern Illinois University
University of Illinois at Springfield came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. This small school is located in Springfield, Illinois, and it awarded 4 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Full University of Illinois at Springfield General Journalism Report
With a ranking of #12, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 53 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.
Dominican University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. Dominican University is a small school located in River Forest, Illinois that handed out 2 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on General Journalism at Dominican University
Lewis University ranked #14 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. This medium-sized school is located in Romeoville, Illinois, and it awarded 3 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Western Illinois University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #15. Located in Macomb, Illinois, this medium-sized public school handed out 3 degrees to qualified ’s journalism students in 2020-2021.
Concordia University, Chicago landed the #16 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking. This medium-sized school is located in River Forest, Illinois, and it awarded 1 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.1%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Concordia University, Chicago General Journalism Report
Roosevelt University did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #17. Roosevelt is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 0 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
Northwestern University ranked #17 on this year’s Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois list. Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 ’s journalism degrees to qualified students.
With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Knox College did quite well in the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Journalism Major in Illinois ranking, coming in at #17. Knox is a small school located in Galesburg, Illinois that handed out 0 ’s journalism degrees in 2020-2021.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about our data sources and methodologies
