a master's degree in journalism is more popular than many other degrees. In fact, it ranks #102 out of 343 on popularity of all such degrees in the nation. As a result, there are many college that offer the degree, making your choice of school a hard one.
In 2024, College Factual analyzed 2 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Journalism Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 32 master's degrees in journalism to qualified students.
One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of master's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their master's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on journalism students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - How many other journalism students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How easy is it for journalism to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized journalism related body.
Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for journalism students working on their master's degree.
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 the Best Journalism Master's Degree Schools in Illinois.
Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Journalism in Illinois
Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in journalism.
DePaul University is one of the finest schools in the country for getting a master's degree in journalism. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.
After graduation, journalism master's recipients generally earn around $34,393 at the beginning of their careers.
University of Illinois at Springfield is a good option for individuals pursuing a master's degree in journalism. Located in the medium-sized city of Springfield, UIS is a public university with a small student population.
Students who graduate with their master's from the journalism program report average early career wages of $34,304.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
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 the rest 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).