2024 Best Area Studies Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Area Studies is above average in terms of popularity with it being the #116 most popular master's degree program in the country. This means you won't have too much trouble finding schools that offer the degree.

College Factual looked at 2 colleges and universities when compiling its 2024 Best Area Studies Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 55 master's degrees in area studies to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to area studies students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other area studies students want to attend this school to pursue a master's degree.
• Educational Resources - How many resources are allocated to students. These resources may include educational expenditures per student, number of students per instructor, and graduation rate among other things.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for area studies to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized area studies related body.

Our complete ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for area studies students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

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 Area Studies Master's Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Area Studies in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in area studies.

Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Area Studies

1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

14 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in area studies needs to check out University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. UIUC is a very large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a master’s in area studies from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

30 Annual Graduates

$35,643 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat University of Chicago if you want to pursue a master's degree in area studies. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.

Students who graduate with their master's from the area studies program state that they receive average early career income of $35,643.

More information about a master’s in area studies from University of Chicago

Best Area Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Area Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	211	11
Ohio	207	28
Indiana	191	29
Wisconsin	173	12

View All Rankings >

Area Studies Related Rankings by Major

Area Studies is one of 2 different types of Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies programs to choose from.

Area Studies Concentrations

Major	Annual Graduates
Near & Middle Eastern Studies	28
Latin American Studies	12
East Asian Studies	8
European Studies	3
German Studies	2
African Studies	1
Russian Studies	1

Most Popular Majors Related to Area Studies

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Ethnic Studies	35

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Karl Udo Gerth. More about our data sources and methodologies.