2026 Best Best Schools in Illinois
Best programs are offered at a focused set of schools across the country. The schools below stand out for the quality of their best programs.
To produce this 2026 ranking, College Factual evaluated 2 schools to find the best for best students.
What’s on this page:
Best Schools for Best in Illinois
If you are not interested in a particular degree level and want to know which schools are the overall best at delivering an education for the best degrees they offer, see the list below.
Top Schools in Best
No school ranked higher than Southern Illinois University Edwardsville this year for best. This large public university is located in the suburb of Edwardsville. About 55% of students finish within six years. There were roughly 27 best students who graduated with this degree at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in the most recent data year. Soon after graduation, best degree recipients from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville generally make around $54,302. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville graduates carry a median of $23,917 in student loans.
Read more about the best program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
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Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs graduation rate, post-graduation earnings, cost, and program quality, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Top Ranked · 2 schools evaluated.
- 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
