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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

10 Ranked Colleges
79 Degrees Awarded
$16,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

General Education is the 35th most popular major in the country with 29,936 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, general education graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $47,138 and had an average of $29,674 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 423 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $46,475 and $26,209 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 79 general education graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” ranking looked at 10 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general education 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 General Education Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. 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.

Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k.

Top 10 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Education (Income $30-$48k) in Illinois

#1 in overall quality

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 Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 13 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $8,464 for illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend UIUC.

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 student loan default rate of 2.4% 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 full report on General Education at UIUC

#2

Lake Forest College

Lake Forest, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Lake Forest College. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. This small school is located in Lake Forest, Illinois, and it awarded 11 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

Lake Forest also took the #2 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Lake Forest is $19,152 for illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Lake Forest College General Education Report

#3

Illinois College

Jacksonville, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois College landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Jacksonville, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 2 degrees to qualified bachelors’s education students 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 Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $12,454 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Education students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Illinois College.

Full Illinois College General Education Report

#4

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, Illinois
#8 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Concordia University, Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Concordia University, Chicago is located in River Forest, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 7 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.

Concordia University, Chicago not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Concordia University, Chicago is $15,406 for illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on General Education at Concordia University, Chicago

#5

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Elmhurst University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k. Elmhurst, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s education degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

Elmhurst did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Elmhurst University is $17,837 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Education students whose families make $30-$48k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.0% 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 full report on General Education at Elmhurst

#6

Greenville University

Greenville, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, Greenville University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. Greenville is a private not-for-profit institution located in Greenville, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k list, Greenville has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $19,258 for illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Greenville University.

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.

Read more about General Education at Greenville University

#7

McKendree University

Lebanon, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

McKendree University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. McKendree is located in Lebanon, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 10 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at McKendree, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for McKendree University is $16,659 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Education students whose families make $30-$48k.

Read full report on General Education at McKendree University

#8

Illinois Wesleyan University

Bloomington, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Illinois Wesleyan University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking, coming in at #8. Illinois Wesleyan University is located in Bloomington, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s education degrees to qualified students.

Illinois Wesleyan did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $19,857 for illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Illinois Wesleyan University.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 87%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Illinois Wesleyan General Education Report

#9

Trinity Christian College

Palos Heights, Illinois

With a ranking of #9, Trinity Christian College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k list. This small school is located in Palos Heights, Illinois, and it awarded 3 bachelors’s education degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Trinity Christian, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $19,918 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Education students whose families make $30-$48k per year to attend Trinity Christian College.

The student loan default rate at the school is 5.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about General Education at Trinity Christian

#10

Roosevelt University

Chicago, Illinois

Roosevelt University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $30-$48k ranking. Roosevelt is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Roosevelt also made our “Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #10. The estimated yearly cost for Roosevelt University is $20,330 for illinois bachelor’s degree education students whose families make $30-$48k.

Full Roosevelt University General Education Report

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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

  • Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO.

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