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2024 Best Sociology Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

22 Colleges in Illinois
741 Bachelor's Degrees
$31,984 Avg Early-Career Salary
Ranked #19 in popularity, sociology is one of the most sought-after bachelor's degree programs in the nation. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 22 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for bachelor's degree seekers in the field of sociology. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 741 bachelor's degrees in sociology during the 2020-2021 academic year.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Sociology School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Sociology Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The sociology bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality sociology program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.

A Great Overall School

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a college's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of different factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Early-Career Earnings

One measure we use to determine the quality of a school is to look at the average salary of bachelor's graduates during the early years of their career. That is, everyone wants their bachelor's degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for sociology students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Sociology Schools

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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Sociology Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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 Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Sociology in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in sociology.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Sociology

1
38 Annual Graduates

Every student who is interested in a bachelor's degree in sociology needs to take a look at University of Chicago. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from University of Chicago

2
33 Annual Graduates
$41,134 Median Starting Salary
$14,567 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat Northwestern University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in sociology. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Those sociology students who get their bachelor's degree from Northwestern University receive $9,150 more than the average sociology grad.

More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from Northwestern University

3
73 Annual Graduates
$32,827 Median Starting Salary
$21,154 Median Student Debt

It is hard to beat University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in sociology. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the sociology program earn about $32,827 in their early career salary.

More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

4
71 Annual Graduates
$30,444 Median Starting Salary
$19,315 Median Student Debt

Every student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in sociology needs to look into University of Illinois at Chicago. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a very large student population.

Bachelor's graduates who receive their degree from the sociology program earn an average of $30,444 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from University of Illinois at Chicago

5
38 Annual Graduates
$33,278 Median Starting Salary
$22,250 Median Student Debt

Loyola Chicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Students who graduate with their bachelor's from the sociology program state that they receive average early career earnings of $33,278.

More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from Loyola University Chicago

6
62 Annual Graduates
$34,527 Median Starting Salary
$25,000 Median Student Debt

Illinois State is a very large public university located in the suburb of Normal.

Bachelor's recipients from the sociology major at Illinois State University make $2,543 more than the standard college grad with the same degree when they enter the workforce.

More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from Illinois State University

7
8 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Wheaton, Wheaton College Illinois is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from Wheaton College Illinois

8
69 Annual Graduates
$33,211 Median Starting Salary
$27,000 Median Student Debt

Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a large student population.

Bachelor's students who receive their degree from the sociology program earn about $33,211 in the first couple years of their career.

More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from Northern Illinois University

9
9 Annual Graduates

SIUC is a large public university located in the city of Carbondale.More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale

10
Elmhurst crest
Elmhurst University
Elmhurst, IL
12 Annual Graduates
$34,950 Median Starting Salary
$24,505 Median Student Debt

Located in the large suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.

Bachelor's recipients from the sociology program at Elmhurst University earn $2,966 above the standard graduate in this field shortly after graduation.

More information about a bachelor’s in sociology from Elmhurst University

Best Sociology Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Sociology Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 509
Ohio 252 612
Indiana 235 415
Wisconsin 213 461

View All Rankings >

Sociology is one of 13 different types of Social Sciences programs to choose from.

Sociology Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Sociology 741

Related Major Annual Graduates
Economics 1,771
Political Science & Government 1,314
International Relations & National Security 231
Anthropology 219
Geography & Cartography 149
Sociology & Anthropology 44
Other Social Sciences 31
General Social Sciences 11
Urban Studies 11
Archeology 2

Notes and References

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