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2022 Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

10 Ranked Colleges
544 Degrees Awarded
$11,300 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Public Health is the 27th most popular major in the country with 38,020 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, public health graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $41,740 and had an average of $35,895 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 1,472 public health graduates with average earnings and debt of $45,964 and $46,461 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 544 public health graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer a degree in public health. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public health programs that also have a lower cost than 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 public health program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The public health 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 Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k”.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 10 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Health (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #1 spot on the list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s public health degrees to 37 students in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also made our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern is $1,866 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Health students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Public Health at Northwestern University

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 Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 193 bachelors’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also took the #2 spot in our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $5,477 for illinois bachelor’s degree public health students whose families make $0-$30k.

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 more about Public Health at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. SIUE is a public institution located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 38 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree public health students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUE has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $8,055 for illinois bachelor’s degree public health students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend SIUE.

Read full report on Public Health at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. UIC is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 29 bachelors’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Chicago is $10,648 for illinois bachelor’s degree public health students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Health at UIC

#5

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. This large school is located in Normal, Illinois, and it awarded 43 bachelors’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois State also took the #3 spot in our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois State is $14,470 for illinois bachelor’s degree public health students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Health at Illinois State

#6

Governors State University

University Park, Illinois

Governors State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #6. Governors State University is located in University Park, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 50 bachelors’s public health degrees to qualified students.

GSU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Governors State University is $10,872 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Health students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full GSU Public Health Report

#7

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

Northern Illinois University landed the #7 spot on the 2022 Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. NIU is a fairly large school located in Dekalb, Illinois that handed out 56 bachelors’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NIU, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $15,281 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Health students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Northern Illinois University.

Full NIU Public Health Report

#8

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois
#9 in overall quality

With a ranking of #8, Western Illinois University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Western Illinois University is a medium-sized school located in Macomb, Illinois that handed out 7 bachelors’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

WIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for WIU is $13,942 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Health students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Public Health at Western Illinois University

#9

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

Bradley University landed the #9 spot on the 2022 Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Bradley University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Peoria, Illinois. It awarded 3 bachelors’s public health degrees in 2019-2020.

Bradley not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $17,205 for illinois bachelor’s degree public health students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Bradley.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%.

Read more about Public Health at Bradley

#10 in overall quality

Northeastern Illinois University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public Health Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized public school awarded 17 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s public health students in 2019-2020.

Northeastern Illinois University not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #10 on our “Best Public Health Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Northeastern Illinois University is $14,816 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Health students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Public Health at Northeastern Illinois University

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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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