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2022 Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

5 Ranked Colleges
12 Degrees Awarded
$21,900 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 19,742 people earned their degree in general social sciences, making the major the 51st most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, general social sciences graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $31,665 and had an average of $22,423 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 259 general social sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $34,550 and $41,870 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 12 general social sciences graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in general social sciences. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent general social sciences programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the general social sciences program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we’ve developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most 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 Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree social sciences students.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for General Social Sciences in Illinois

#1

McKendree University

Lebanon, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend McKendree University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. McKendree is located in Lebanon, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 1 bachelors’s social sciences degrees to qualified students.

McKendree did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best General Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend McKendree University is $19,844 for illinois bachelor’s degree social sciences students.

Full McKendree General Social Sciences Report

#2

Rockford University

Rockford, Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Rockford University landed the #2 spot on the list. Rockford, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s social sciences degrees to 1 students in 2019-2020.

Rockford did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best General Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $22,197 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Social Sciences students per year to attend Rockford.

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.

Read full report on General Social Sciences at Rockford

#3

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Olivet Nazarene University landed the #3 spot on the list. Located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 1 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s social sciences students in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene also made our “Best General Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene University is $20,195 for illinois bachelor’s degree social sciences students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Olivet Nazarene General Social Sciences Report

#4

Roosevelt University

Chicago, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Roosevelt University landed the #4 spot on the list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 2 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s social sciences students in 2019-2020.

Roosevelt not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #5 on our “Best General Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $22,749 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Social Sciences students per year to attend Roosevelt.

Full Roosevelt General Social Sciences Report

#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Social Sciences Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 3 bachelors’s social sciences degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best General Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $24,664 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Social Sciences students per year to attend Northwestern.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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%. With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read full report on General Social Sciences at Northwestern 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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