2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

Geography is the 159th most popular major in the country with 4,954 degrees awarded in 2020-2021.

Across Illinois, there were 144 geography graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 8 geography graduates with average earnings and debt of $59,317 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois” ranking looked at 6 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in geography. This a ranking of the schools where the largest percentage of students has enrolled in geography.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

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 “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest 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.

Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois”.

Top 6 Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Geography in Illinois

1

Chicago State University
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Chicago State University. The school came in at #1 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s geography degrees to 3 students in 2020-2021.

The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 9 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Geography at Chicago State University

2

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, Illinois

Out of the 6 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the #2 spot on the list. SIUE is a fairly large school located in Edwardsville, Illinois that handed out 3 masters’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.

Read full report on Geography at SIUE

3

Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois list. Located in Dekalb, Illinois, this fairly large public school handed out 2 diplomas to qualified masters’s geography students in 2020-2021.

Full Northern Illinois University Geography Report

4

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

#10 overall quality in Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #4 for the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois. University of Illinois at Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 masters’s geography degrees to qualified students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.5% 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 UIC Geography Report

4

Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Carbondale, Illinois

Out of the 6 schools in the Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #4 spot on the list. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out masters’s geography degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.

Read more about Geography at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

4

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, Illinois

#3 overall quality in Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Master’s Highly Focused on Geography Major in Illinois list. This large school is located in Champaign, Illinois, and it awarded 13 masters’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.

Read full report on Geography at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Geography in the Great Lakes Region
• Most Focused Master’s Degree Colleges for Geography

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

• *Avg Salary and Avg 4-Year Grad Rate 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 Couleur.