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2022 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration (Income $48-$75k) in Illinois

11 Ranked Colleges
457 Degrees Awarded
Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking.

Public Administration is the 58th most popular major in the country with 17,269 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, public administration graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $48,859 and had an average of $42,077 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 457 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $46,625 and $39,969 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking looked at 11 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public administration. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great public administration programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the public administration program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Public Administration Schools

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k.

Top 11 Best Value Colleges for Public Administration (Income $48-$75k) in Illinois

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. Northwestern University is a large school located in Evanston, Illinois that handed out 88 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $6,452 for illinois public admin students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Northwestern University.

The student loan default rate at the school is 0.8%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read full report on Public Administration at Northwestern University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Springfield. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. UIS is a small school located in Springfield, Illinois that handed out 86 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

UIS did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Springfield is $11,857 for Illinois Public Admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

Read full report on Public Administration at UIS

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k list. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 94 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UIC is $13,683 for Illinois Public Admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

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%.

Read full report on Public Administration at University of Illinois at Chicago

#4

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. Northern Illinois University is a fairly large school located in Dekalb, Illinois that handed out 32 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

NIU did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Northern Illinois University is $18,346 for illinois public admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

Read more about Public Administration at Northern Illinois University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a public institution located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 29 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUE did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend SIUE is $13,705 for illinois public admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

Full SIUE Public Administration Report

#6

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois

Aurora University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k list. Aurora, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 14 students in 2019-2020.

Aurora also took the #4 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Aurora University is $15,881 for illinois public admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.4% 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%.

Read full report on Public Administration at Aurora

#7

Governors State University

University Park, Illinois

Governors State University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #7. Governors State University is a small school located in University Park, Illinois that handed out 6 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

GSU also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #8. The estimated yearly cost for Governors State University is $11,872 for Illinois Public Admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

Read more about Public Administration at GSU

Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #8. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 6 degrees to qualified ’s public admin students in 2019-2020.

SIUC also made our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #9. The estimated yearly cost for SIUC is $14,985 for illinois public admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

Full Southern Illinois University Carbondale Public Administration Report

#9

National Louis University

Chicago, Illinois

National Louis University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k list. NLU is a medium-sized school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 12 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NLU, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $16,888 for Illinois Public Admin students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend NLU.

Full National Louis University Public Administration Report

#10

Roosevelt University

Chicago, Illinois

Roosevelt University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #10. Roosevelt University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 8 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Roosevelt, the school also landed the #11 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $21,870 for Illinois Public Admin students whose families make $48-$75k per year to attend Roosevelt.

Read more about Public Administration at Roosevelt

#11

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools in Illinois For Those Making $48-$75k ranking, coming in at #11. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 42 ’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at DePaul, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Public Administration Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for DePaul is $28,075 for Illinois Public Admin students whose families make $48-$75k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 4.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Administration at DePaul University

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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