2022 Best Value Colleges for General Education in Illinois (With Aid)
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 “Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
General Education is the 28th most popular major in the country with 29,936 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.
Across Illinois, there were 423 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 16 colleges that offer a degree in general education. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great general education programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.
To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the general education program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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More Ways to Rank General Education Schools
The general education 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 General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid”.
To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid.
Top 16 Best Value Colleges for General Education in Illinois (With Aid)
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Champaign, Illinois, this large public school awarded 197 diplomas to qualified ’s general education students in 2019-2020.
UIUC also took the #1 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $15,880 for Illinois General Education students with aid.
With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Saint Xavier University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s general education degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.
SXU also made our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #10. The yearly cost to attend SXU is $14,528 for illinois general education students with aid.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. This medium-sized school is located in Macomb, Illinois, and it awarded 14 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at WIU, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for WIU is $16,210 for Illinois General Education students with aid.
Read more about General Education at Western Illinois University
Out of the 16 schools in the Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #4 spot on the list. This fairly large school is located in Dekalb, Illinois, and it awarded 16 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
NIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #9 on our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northern Illinois University is $18,259 for illinois general education students with aid.
Out of the 16 schools in the Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois College landed the #5 spot on the list. This small school is located in Jacksonville, Illinois, and it awarded 2 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Illinois College, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois College is $16,562 for illinois general education students with aid.
With a ranking of #6, Concordia University, Chicago did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. This medium-sized school is located in River Forest, Illinois, and it awarded 12 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Concordia University, Chicago also made our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #11. It costs about $16,512 for Illinois General Education students with aid per year to attend Concordia University, Chicago.
Read more about General Education at Concordia University, Chicago
With a ranking of #7, Quincy University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Quincy, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 20 diplomas to qualified ’s general education students in 2019-2020.
Quincy U did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #13 on our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Quincy University is $17,497 for Illinois General Education students with aid.
Elmhurst University landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. This small school is located in Elmhurst, Illinois, and it awarded 11 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Elmhurst did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst is $21,485 for Illinois General Education students with aid.
The student loan default rate at the school is 3.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Greenville University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Greenville University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Greenville, Illinois. It awarded 6 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Greenville, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $20,689 for Illinois General Education students with aid per year to attend Greenville.
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.
McKendree University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #10. McKendree is a private not-for-profit institution located in Lebanon, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 37 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.
McKendree not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $19,844 for Illinois General Education students with aid per year to attend McKendree.
Lake Forest College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Lake Forest is a small school located in Lake Forest, Illinois that handed out 11 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Lake Forest did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $26,426 for Illinois General Education students with aid per year to attend Lake Forest.
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%.
North Park University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #12. North Park is a small school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 1 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our illinois general education students with aid list, North Park has also earned the #15 rank in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for North Park is $19,170 for Illinois General Education students with aid.
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.
With a ranking of #13, Trinity Christian College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Trinity Christian College is a small school located in Palos Heights, Illinois that handed out 3 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
Trinity Christian also made our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #12. It costs about $21,904 for Illinois General Education students with aid per year to attend Trinity Christian College.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 5.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The 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.
Rockford University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #14. Rockford University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Rockford, Illinois. It awarded 11 ’s general education degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Rockford, the school also landed the #14 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Rockford is $22,197 for illinois general education students with aid.
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.
Roosevelt University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 9 diplomas to qualified ’s general education students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Roosevelt, the school also landed the #16 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Roosevelt University is $22,749 for illinois general education students with aid.
Illinois Wesleyan University landed the #16 spot on the 2022 Best Value General Education Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Illinois Wesleyan University is located in Bloomington, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 ’s general education degrees to qualified students.
Illinois Wesleyan also took the #3 spot in our “Best General Education Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Illinois Wesleyan is $26,039 for illinois general education students with aid.
Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 87%. The low student loan default rate of 1.4% 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%.
- Best Value Colleges for General Education in the Great Lakes Region (With Aid)
- Best Value Colleges for General Education (With Aid)
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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.
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