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

22 Ranked Colleges
820 Degrees Awarded
$14,000 Avg Net Price*
Best Value History 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 History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

History is the 30th most popular major in the country with 32,905 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, history graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $29,593 and had an average of $23,490 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 942 history graduates with average earnings and debt of $28,667 and $22,107 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 820 history graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 22 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in history. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent history programs, but they also cost less that 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 history program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank History Schools

The history 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 History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k”.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

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

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 22 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for History (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 22 schools in the Best Value History 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. This large school is located in Evanston, Illinois, and it awarded 48 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern University is $1,866 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

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. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about History at Northwestern University

#2

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s history degrees to 72 students in 2019-2020.

UChicago also took the #1 spot in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Chicago is $2,712 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. The 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 student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Full University of Chicago History Report

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 #3 for the Best Value History 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 87 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $5,477 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full UIUC History Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Edwardsville, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 49 degrees to qualified bachelors’s history students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUE has also earned the #14 rank in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for SIUE is $8,055 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about History at SIUE

Out of the 22 schools in the Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #5 spot on the list. UIC is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 32 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #7 spot in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $10,648 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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%.

Full University of Illinois at Chicago History Report

#6

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois

Illinois State University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Located in Normal, Illinois, this large public school handed out 97 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s history students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k list, Illinois State has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Illinois State is $14,470 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History 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 full report on History at Illinois State University

With a ranking of #7, University of Illinois at Springfield did quite well on the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. UIS is a public institution located in Springfield, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 21 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIS also took the #8 spot in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIS is $9,771 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on History at University of Illinois at Springfield

#8

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

Northern Illinois University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Dekalb, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s history degrees to 39 students in 2019-2020.

NIU also took the #11 spot in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northern Illinois University is $15,281 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on History at Northern Illinois University

#9

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, Illinois

With a ranking of #9, Eastern Illinois University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Charleston, Illinois, this medium-sized public school awarded 20 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s history students in 2019-2020.

EIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #15 on our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $12,350 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend EIU.

Full Eastern Illinois University History Report

Southern Illinois University Carbondale came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a fairly large school located in Carbondale, Illinois that handed out 21 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUC has also earned the #17 rank in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SIUC is $13,658 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on History at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#11

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois

Western Illinois University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #11. Western Illinois University is a public institution located in Macomb, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 13 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

WIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #18 on our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Western Illinois University is $13,942 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on History at WIU

#12

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois

Aurora University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #12. This medium-sized school is located in Aurora, Illinois, and it awarded 17 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

Aurora not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #12 on our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Aurora University is $14,103 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History 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%.

Full Aurora University History Report

#13

Wheaton College Illinois

Wheaton, Illinois

Wheaton College Illinois did quite well in the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #13. Located in Wheaton, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 14 degrees to qualified bachelors’s history students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k list, Wheaton College Illinois has also earned the #6 rank in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Wheaton College Illinois is $18,440 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 90%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on History at Wheaton College Illinois

#14

Illinois College

Jacksonville, Illinois

Illinois College ranked #14 on this year’s Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Illinois College is a private not-for-profit institution located in Jacksonville, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 9 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois College also took the #20 spot in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Illinois College is $11,376 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read more about History at Illinois College

#15

Monmouth College

Monmouth, Illinois

Monmouth College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #15. Monmouth is a small school located in Monmouth, Illinois that handed out 10 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

Monmouth also made our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #16. It costs about $13,231 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Monmouth College.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about History at Monmouth

#16

Knox College

Galesburg, Illinois

With a ranking of #16, Knox College did quite well on the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Knox is a small school located in Galesburg, Illinois that handed out 16 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

Knox also took the #10 spot in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $16,828 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Knox College.

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. The student loan default rate at the school is 4.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on History at Knox

#17

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois

Elmhurst University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. This small school is located in Elmhurst, Illinois, and it awarded 14 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

Elmhurst not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #19 on our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst is $16,903 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Elmhurst History Report

Northeastern Illinois University landed the #18 spot on the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Northeastern Illinois University is a medium-sized public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 30 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

Northeastern Illinois University did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #21 on our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $14,816 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Northeastern Illinois University.

Full Northeastern Illinois University History Report

#19

North Central College

Naperville, Illinois

North Central College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #19. Naperville, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s history degrees to 18 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k list, North Central has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $18,889 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend North Central College.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on History at North Central College

#20

Roosevelt University

Chicago, Illinois

Roosevelt University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking, coming in at #20. Roosevelt University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 5 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

Roosevelt also made our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #22. It costs about $20,398 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Roosevelt University.

Read more about History at Roosevelt University

#21

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Loyola University Chicago came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. Loyola Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 58 bachelors’s history degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k list, Loyola Chicago has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Loyola University Chicago is $29,440 for illinois bachelor’s degree history students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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%.

Full Loyola University Chicago History Report

#22

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #22, DePaul University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value History Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. DePaul is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 20 bachelors’s history degrees in 2019-2020.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #13 on our “Best History Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for DePaul University is $26,173 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree History students whose families make $0-$30k.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on History at DePaul University

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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