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2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois

11 Ranked Colleges
426 Degrees Awarded
$21,600 Avg Grad Tuition & Fees*
Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master's in Illinois

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 for a Master’s in Illinois” 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. At the master’s degree level specifically, there were 426 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $57,267 and $46,814 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” ranking analyzed 11 colleges that offered a degree 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the public administration 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

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 Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois” list to help you make the college 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 for a Master’s in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois master’s degree public admin students.

Top 11 Best Value Master’s Degree Colleges for Public Administration in Illinois

Out of the 11 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Springfield landed the #1 spot on the list. This small school is located in Springfield, Illinois, and it awarded 63 masters’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

UIS not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #3 on our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at UIS are $16,757, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 91 masters’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #2 on our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at University of Illinois at Chicago are $27,036.

Read full report on Public Administration at UIC

#3

Aurora University

Aurora, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Aurora University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. Aurora, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out masters’s public admin degrees to 14 students in 2019-2020.

Aurora did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Aurora University are $13,200, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Public Administration at Aurora

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois. SIUE is a public institution located in Edwardsville, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 29 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

SIUE also made our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #7. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville are $9,300.

Read full report on Public Administration at SIUE

#5

Northern Illinois University

Dekalb, Illinois

Out of the 11 schools in the Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the #5 spot on the list. Northern Illinois University is a fairly large public school situated in Dekalb, Illinois. It awarded 32 masters’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at NIU, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at NIU are $11,086, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read full report on Public Administration at NIU

#6

Governors State University

University Park, Illinois
#10 in overall quality

Governors State University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Governors State University is a small school located in University Park, Illinois that handed out 6 masters’s public admin degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at GSU, the school also landed the #10 spot in our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at GSU are $14,674, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Public Administration at GSU

#7

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #7, DePaul University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school handed out 42 degrees to qualified masters’s public admin students in 2019-2020.

DePaul also took the #4 spot in our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at DePaul University are $19,760, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read more about Public Administration at DePaul

Southern Illinois University Carbondale ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Located in Carbondale, Illinois, this fairly large public school awarded 6 diplomas to qualified masters’s public admin students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois master’s degree public admin students list, SIUC has also earned the #9 rank in our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Average graduate tuition and fees at SIUC are $32,928, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Read full report on Public Administration at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#9

National Louis University

Chicago, Illinois
#11 in overall quality

National Louis University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. National Louis University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 12 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

NLU also made our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #11. Average graduate tuition and fees at National Louis University are $12,096, but you may pay more or less depending on your major.

Read more about Public Administration at National Louis University

#10

Roosevelt University

Chicago, Illinois

Roosevelt University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Roosevelt is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 8 masters’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Roosevelt, the school also landed the #8 spot in our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. Although you might pay more or less depending on your area of study, average graduate tuition and fees at Roosevelt are $21,605.

Full Roosevelt University Public Administration Report

#11

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Northwestern University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Value Public Admin Schools for a Master’s in Illinois list. Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 85 masters’s public admin degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Administration Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. Average graduate tuition and fees at Northwestern are $56,567, but some majors have different tuition rates.

Full Northwestern Public Administration Report

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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

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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