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2022 Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

7 Ranked Colleges
148 Degrees Awarded
$21,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Public Relations is the 136th most popular major in the country with 5,347 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across Illinois, there were 148 public relations graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 148 public relations graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in public relations. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public relations 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 public relations program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Public Relations Schools

When choosing the right school for you, it’s important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we’ve created a number of major-specific rankings, including this “Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

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

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

#1

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois State University landed the #1 spot on the list. Illinois State is a public institution located in Normal, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 80 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Relations Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $20,895 for illinois bachelor’s degree pr students per year to attend Illinois State.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Relations at Illinois State

#2

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Eastern Illinois University landed the #2 spot on the list. Located in Charleston, Illinois, this medium-sized public school handed out 9 degrees to qualified bachelors’s PR students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree pr students list, EIU has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Public Relations Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Eastern Illinois University is $14,607 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree PR students.

Full Eastern Illinois University Public Relations Report

#3

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Bradley University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Peoria, Illinois. It awarded 19 bachelors’s PR degrees in 2019-2020.

Bradley also made our “Best Public Relations Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $25,634 for illinois bachelor’s degree pr students per year to attend Bradley.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Bradley University Public Relations Report

#4

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia College Chicago landed the #4 spot on the list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s PR degrees to 14 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Columbia, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Relations Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $31,099 for illinois bachelor’s degree pr students per year to attend Columbia College Chicago.

Full Columbia College Chicago Public Relations Report

#5

Dominican University

River Forest, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Dominican University landed the #5 spot on the list. River Forest, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s PR degrees to 3 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree pr students list, Dominican U has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Public Relations Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Dominican U is $19,268 for illinois bachelor’s degree pr students.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Public Relations at Dominican University

#6

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Olivet Nazarene University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking, coming in at #6. Located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 2 degrees to qualified bachelors’s PR students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree pr students list, Olivet Nazarene has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Public Relations Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Olivet Nazarene is $20,195 for illinois bachelor’s degree pr students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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%.

Read more about Public Relations at Olivet Nazarene University

#7

Monmouth College

Monmouth, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

Monmouth College ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value PR Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. Monmouth is located in Monmouth, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 bachelors’s PR degrees to qualified students.

Monmouth also made our “Best Public Relations Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. The estimated yearly cost for Monmouth College is $17,061 for illinois bachelor’s degree pr students.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Relations at Monmouth

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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

Featured Communications / Public Relations Schools

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