2022 Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. 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 Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Anthropology is the 77th most popular major in the country with 12,008 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, anthropology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $24,661 and had an average of $23,289 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 290 anthropology graduates with average earnings and debt of $21,567 and $21,644 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 27 anthropology graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in anthropology. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality anthropology 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 anthropology program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to our rankings, you can take two colleges and compare them based on the criteria that matters most to you in our unique tool, College Combat. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois.

Top 5 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Anthropology in Illinois

#1

Illinois State University

Normal, Illinois

#4 in overall quality

$11,069 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Illinois State University is located in Normal, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 5 masters’s anthropology degrees to qualified students.

Illinois State did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Anthropology Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Illinois State are $11,069, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Anthropology at Illinois State University

#2

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$27,036 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. University of Illinois at Chicago is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 4 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best Anthropology Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at UIC are $27,036.

Read more about Anthropology at UIC

#3

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

#5 in overall quality

$11,086 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

$33,993 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. NIU is located in Dekalb, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 masters’s anthropology degrees to qualified students.

NIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Anthropology Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northern Illinois University are $11,086, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full NIU Anthropology Report

#4

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$56,567 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #4 spot on the list. Evanston, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s anthropology degrees to 8 students in 2019-2020.

Northwestern did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Anthropology Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern University are $56,567.

Full Northwestern Anthropology Report

#5

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$61,548 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Anthropology Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #5 spot on the list. UChicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 5 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Anthropology Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at University of Chicago are $61,548, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Anthropology at University of Chicago

• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Anthropology in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Anthropology

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.

Credits

• Credit for the banner image above goes to Deror avi.

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