2022 Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 1,475 people earned their degree in urban studies/affairs, making the major the 341st most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 46 urban studies/affairs graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 40 urban studies/affairs graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

For this year’s “Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 3 colleges that offer a degree in urban studies/affairs. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent urban studies/affairs 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 urban studies/affairs 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

The urban affairs school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois”.

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. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois.

Top 3 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban Studies/Affairs in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

#2 in overall quality

$13,312 Average Net Price

Out of the 3 schools in the Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. UIC is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 30 bachelors’s urban affairs degrees to qualified students.

UIC also made our “Best Urban Studies/Affairs Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #2. The yearly cost to attend UIC is $13,312 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Urban Affairs students.

The low student loan default rate of 3.4% 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 University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Studies/Affairs Report

#2

Wheaton College Illinois

Wheaton, Illinois

#1 in overall quality

$25,358 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Wheaton College Illinois. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Wheaton College Illinois is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Wheaton, Illinois. It awarded 6 bachelors’s urban affairs degrees in 2019-2020.

Wheaton College Illinois also made our “Best Urban Studies/Affairs Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $25,358 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Urban Affairs students per year to attend Wheaton College Illinois.

With a freshman retention rate of 90%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. 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. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Urban Studies/Affairs at Wheaton College Illinois

#3

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois

#3 in overall quality

$21,485 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Elmhurst University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Urban Affairs Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Elmhurst University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Elmhurst, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Elmhurst also made our “Best Urban Studies/Affairs Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst University is $21,485 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Urban Affairs students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Elmhurst Urban Studies/Affairs Report

• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban Studies/Affairs in the Great Lakes Region
• Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Urban Studies/Affairs

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 Andrew Bossi.

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