2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois
It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.
In 2019-2020, 365,980 liberal arts students received their degree, making the major the 2nd most popular in the country.
Across Illinois, there were 23,860 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 699 liberal arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.
This year’s “Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking analyzed 14 colleges that offered a degree in liberal arts. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality liberal arts 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 liberal arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
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More Ways to Rank Liberal Arts Schools
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 Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.
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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.
Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois
The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois.
Top 14 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Liberal Arts in Illinois
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. Illinois State is a large school located in Normal, Illinois that handed out 44 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
Illinois State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Illinois State is $20,895 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students.
The low student loan default rate of 4.4% 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 full report on Liberal Arts at Illinois State University
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. WIU is a medium-sized school located in Macomb, Illinois that handed out 10 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
WIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $16,210 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students per year to attend WIU.
Read full report on Liberal Arts at Western Illinois University
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Eastern Illinois University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Eastern Illinois University is a medium-sized public school situated in Charleston, Illinois. It awarded 123 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students list, EIU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for EIU is $14,607 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students.
Out of the 14 schools in the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Governors State University landed the #4 spot on the list. Governors State University is a small school located in University Park, Illinois that handed out 108 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
GSU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #8 on our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $12,077 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students per year to attend GSU.
Out of the 14 schools in the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Springfield landed the #5 spot on the list. University of Illinois at Springfield is a small school located in Springfield, Illinois that handed out 15 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
UIS not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #7 on our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Springfield is $12,477 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students.
Full University of Illinois at Springfield Liberal Arts Report
Northern Illinois University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. Dekalb, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s liberal studies degrees to 61 students in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students list, NIU has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $18,259 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students per year to attend Northern Illinois University.
Northeastern Illinois University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized public school awarded 139 degrees to qualified bachelors’s liberal studies students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northeastern Illinois University, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $15,843 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students per year to attend Northeastern Illinois University.
With a ranking of #8, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. SIUC is a fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 54 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUC, the school also landed the #11 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale is $16,945 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students.
Read full report on Liberal Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Lincoln College did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking, coming in at #9. Lincoln, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s liberal studies degrees to 9 students in 2019-2020.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at Lincoln College, the school also landed the #13 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Lincoln College is $21,797 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students.
With a ranking of #10, Chicago State University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s liberal studies degrees to 21 students in 2019-2020.
CSU also took the #14 spot in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $11,733 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students per year to attend CSU.
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.
Read full report on Liberal Arts at Chicago State University
University of St Francis did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking, coming in at #11. University of St Francis is located in Joliet, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees to qualified students.
University of Saint Francis also made our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend University of St Francis is $17,538 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Saint Xavier University landed the #12 spot on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 24 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s liberal studies students in 2019-2020.
SXU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #12 on our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend SXU is $14,528 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Liberal Studies students.
North Central College ranked #13 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. This small school is located in Naperville, Illinois, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
North Central not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for North Central is $24,786 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students.
The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.9%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
With a ranking of #14, University of Chicago did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Liberal Studies Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. This fairly large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 12 bachelors’s liberal studies degrees in 2019-2020.
In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students list, UChicago has also earned the #1 rank in our “Best Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $27,315 for illinois bachelor’s degree liberal studies students per year to attend UChicago.
With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. 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%.
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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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