2026 Best Best Schools in Illinois
Best is a field worth a close look when choosing where to study. A focused field like this rewards careful comparison of the schools that offer it.
For its 2026 ranking, College Factual looked at 2 schools in the United States to determine which ones were the best for best students pursuing a degree.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for Best in Illinois
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the best degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in Best
No school ranked higher than Southern Illinois University Edwardsville this year for best. This large public university is located in the suburb of Edwardsville. Roughly 55% of students complete a degree within six years here. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville awarded about 38 best degrees in the most recent data year. Students who receive their best degree from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville earn around $54,302 in the first couple years of their career. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville graduates carry a median of $23,917 in student loans.
Get the full best details for Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
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Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. Schools are scored on a blend of student outcomes (graduation rate, post-graduation earnings), affordability, and program focus, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 2 schools evaluated.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
