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2024 Best Value Colleges for Creative Writing in Illinois

11 Ranked Colleges
237 Degrees Awarded
$24,500 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. 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 Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 6,817 people earned their degree in creative writing, making the major the 120th most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 237 creative writing graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking analyzed 11 colleges that offered a degree in creative writing. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality creative writing programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the creative writing program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Creative Writing Schools

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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois.

Top 11 Best Value Colleges for Creative Writing in Illinois

1

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #1 on our 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois list. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s creative writing degrees to 10 students in 2020-2021.

SIUC also took the #6 spot in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale is $16,285 for illinois creative writing students.

The undergraduate 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.

Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale Creative Writing Report

2

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is located in Champaign, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 8 ’s creative writing degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois creative writing students list, UIUC has also earned the #3 rank in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $14,321 for illinois creative writing students.

With a freshman retention rate of 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%.

Full University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Creative Writing Report

3

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois list. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a fairly large public school situated in Edwardsville, Illinois. It awarded 3 ’s creative writing degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois creative writing students list, SIUE has also earned the #10 rank in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $14,462 for illinois creative writing students per year to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

Read full report on Creative Writing at SIUE

4
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 11 degrees to qualified ’s creative writing students in 2020-2021.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for DePaul University is $31,174 for illinois creative writing students.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full DePaul Creative Writing Report

5
Columbia crest
Columbia College Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Columbia College Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois list. Columbia College Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 69 ’s creative writing degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Columbia, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Columbia College Chicago is $26,258 for illinois creative writing students.

Read more about Creative Writing at Columbia

6
North Central crest
North Central College
Naperville, Illinois

North Central College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois list. North Central is a small school located in Naperville, Illinois that handed out 3 ’s creative writing degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois creative writing students list, North Central has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend North Central College is $25,199 for illinois creative writing students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full North Central Creative Writing Report

7
Augustana crest
Augustana College
Rock Island, Illinois

Augustana College did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois ranking, coming in at #7. This small school is located in Rock Island, Illinois, and it awarded 9 ’s creative writing degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois creative writing students list, Augustana has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $23,489 for illinois creative writing students per year to attend Augustana College.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.5% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Read more about Creative Writing at Augustana College

8
Knox crest
Knox College
Galesburg, Illinois

Knox College landed the #8 spot on the 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois ranking. Knox College is a small school located in Galesburg, Illinois that handed out 21 ’s creative writing degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois creative writing students list, Knox has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Knox is $20,548 for Illinois Creative Writing students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.3% 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%.

Full Knox Creative Writing Report

9

With a ranking of #9, School of the Art Institute of Chicago did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 27 diplomas to qualified ’s creative writing students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the school also landed the #11 spot in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend School of the Art Institute of Chicago is $45,909 for Illinois Creative Writing students.

With a undergrad 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 Creative Writing at School of the Art Institute of Chicago

10
Northwestern crest
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

Northwestern University landed the #10 spot on the 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois ranking. Northwestern is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 17 ’s creative writing degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern is $23,279 for Illinois Creative Writing students.

With a freshman retention rate of 99%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Creative Writing at Northwestern University

11
UChicago crest
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #11, University of Chicago did quite well on the 2024 Best Value Creative Writing Schools in Illinois list. University of Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 36 ’s creative writing degrees in 2020-2021.

UChicago also took the #1 spot in our “Best Creative Writing Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Chicago is $28,517 for illinois creative writing students.

With a freshman retention rate of 99%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.0% 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%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full University of Chicago Creative Writing Report

Notes and References

References

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