2024 Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois
13
Ranked Colleges
201
Degrees Awarded
$18,900
Avg Net Price*
Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.
In 2020-2021, 8,526 people earned their degree in geography & cartography, making the major the 110th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, geography & cartography graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $38,604 and had an average of $22,522 in loans still to pay off.
Across Illinois, there were 201 geography & cartography graduates with average earnings and debt of $41,963 and $22,183 respectively.
For this year’s “Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 13 colleges that offer a degree in geography & cartography. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent geography & cartography programs, but they also cost less that 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 geography & cartography program at the school. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.
More Ways to Rank Geography & Cartography 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 Geography Schools in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.
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. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.
Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois
The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois geography students.
Top 13 Best Value Colleges for Geography & Cartography in Illinois
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 Geography Schools in Illinois. This large school is located in Normal, Illinois, and it awarded 32 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
Illinois State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Illinois State University is $20,830 for Illinois Geography students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Geography & Cartography at Illinois State
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 45 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend UIUC is $14,321 for illinois geography students.
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 93%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students.
Read full report on Geography & Cartography at UIUC
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois list. SIUE is a public institution located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 26 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.
SIUE did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend SIUE is $14,462 for illinois geography students.
Full Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Geography & Cartography Report
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northern Illinois University. It ranked #4 on our 2024 Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois list. NIU is located in Dekalb, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 12 ’s geography degrees to qualified students.
NIU not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #9 on our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $13,956 for Illinois Geography students per year to attend NIU.
Full Northern Illinois University Geography & Cartography Report
Out of the 13 schools in the Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the #5 spot on the list. Western Illinois University is a medium-sized school located in Macomb, Illinois that handed out 11 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
WIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #10 on our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for WIU is $15,305 for illinois geography students.
Full WIU Geography & Cartography Report
Eastern Illinois University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois list. EIU is a medium-sized school located in Charleston, Illinois that handed out 16 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
EIU also took the #11 spot in our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Eastern Illinois University is $13,098 for Illinois Geography students.
Full Eastern Illinois University Geography & Cartography Report
Chicago State University landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois ranking. This small school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 3 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
In addition to being on our illinois geography students list, CSU has also earned the #12 rank in our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $12,681 for Illinois Geography students per year to attend CSU.
Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.
Full CSU Geography & Cartography Report
Northeastern Illinois University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois list. Northeastern Illinois University is a medium-sized public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 2 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
Northeastern Illinois University also made our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #13. The estimated yearly cost for Northeastern Illinois University is $14,590 for illinois geography students.
Read full report on Geography & Cartography at Northeastern Illinois University
Elmhurst University did quite well in the 2024 Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois ranking, coming in at #9. This small school is located in Elmhurst, Illinois, and it awarded 7 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
Elmhurst not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #8 on our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst University is $20,100 for Illinois Geography students.
The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.2%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Full Elmhurst Geography & Cartography Report
DePaul University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois ranking. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s geography degrees to 10 students in 2020-2021.
DePaul also made our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #5. The estimated yearly cost for DePaul is $31,174 for illinois geography students.
The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.
Read full report on Geography & Cartography at DePaul
Augustana College landed the #11 spot on the 2024 Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois ranking. Rock Island, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s geography degrees to 10 students in 2020-2021.
Augustana also took the #7 spot in our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Augustana is $23,489 for Illinois Geography students.
With a freshman retention rate of 85%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.
Read more about Geography & Cartography at Augustana
Northwestern University came in at #12 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois ranking. Northwestern University is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 8 ’s geography degrees in 2020-2021.
Northwestern also took the #3 spot in our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $23,279 for Illinois Geography students per year to attend Northwestern.
The low undergrad student loan default rate of 0.6% 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%. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 99%.
Read more about Geography & Cartography at Northwestern University
University of Chicago landed the #12 spot on the 2024 Best Value Geography Schools in Illinois ranking. UChicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 11 ’s geography degrees to qualified students.
As a testament to the quality of education offered at UChicago, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Chicago is $28,517 for illinois geography students.
The impressive undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 1.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 99%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.
Read more about Geography & Cartography at UChicago
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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
- *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 Couleur.
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