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2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin

10 Ranked Colleges
446 Degrees Awarded
$25,900 Avg Cost*
Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin

When it comes to choosing a college, veterans have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

In 2020-2021, 16,905 people earned their degree in public administration, making the major the 60th most popular in the United States. In 2019-2020, public administration graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $51,352 and had an average of $29,054 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 446 public administration graduates with average earnings and debt of $51,622 and $0 respectively.

This year’s “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin” ranking analyzed 10 colleges that offered a degree in public administration. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public administration programs, but they also offer a lot of support to veterans and active service members.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the public administration program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

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. 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.

Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois vets studying public admin.

Top 10 Best Public Administration Colleges for Veterans in Illinois

1

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 55 students in 2020-2021.

UIC also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 33,518 students enrolled at University of Illinois at Chicago, 1 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $23,878. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. University of Illinois at Chicago does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 More…

2

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin list. SIUE is a fairly large public school situated in Edwardsville, Illinois. It awarded 37 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

SIUE also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].According to our most recent data, SIUE supports 12,860 students, and 3 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 2 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $23,082. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. SIUE offers credit for military training for eligible students.

Full SIUE Veteran Student Life Report

3
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 10 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #3 spot on the list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 50 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

DePaul did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] on our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list.Of the 21,922 students enrolled at DePaul, 528 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 367 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $14,957. To help with additional expenses, 101 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. DePaul does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 More…

4
Aurora crest
Aurora University
Aurora, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Aurora University. The school came in at #4 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin. Aurora is a medium-sized school located in Aurora, Illinois that handed out 29 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois vets studying public admin list, Aurora has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 6,265 students enrolled at Aurora University, 3 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $6,999. To help with additional expenses, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Aurora University offers credit for military training for eligible students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

[Read full report on veteran student life at Aurora]](/colleges/aurora-university/student-life/veterans/)

5

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Springfield. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin list. UIS is a small school located in Springfield, Illinois that handed out 71 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois vets studying public admin list, UIS has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 214 of the 4,146 students enrolled at UIS were GI Bill® students, of which 106 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $6,253. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. UIS does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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 More…

6

Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well in the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin ranking, coming in at #6. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 10 students in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUC, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 11,366 students enrolled at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 1 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 0 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $0. During this same period, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

Full SIUC Veteran Student Life Report

7
Northwestern crest
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

Northwestern University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin ranking. Northwestern University is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 75 ’s public admin degrees to qualified students.

Northwestern also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Of the 22,603 students enrolled at Northwestern, 1 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $399. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 97%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

[Read full report on veteran student life at Northwestern University]](/colleges/northwestern-university/student-life/veterans/)

8

Northern Illinois University landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin ranking. Dekalb, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public admin degrees to 35 students in 2020-2021.

NIU also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, NIU supports 16,769 students, and 480 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 207 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $7,822. To help with additional expenses, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program.

Full Northern Illinois University Veteran Student Life Report

9
GSU crest
Governors State University
University Park, Illinois

Governors State University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin ranking. Governors State University is a small public school situated in University Park, Illinois. It awarded 19 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our illinois vets studying public admin list, GSU has also earned the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] rank in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 146 of the 4,650 students enrolled at Governors State University were GI Bill® students, of which 80 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $7,291. In addition to receiving other benefits, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Full GSU Veteran Student Life Report

10
NLU crest
National Louis University
Chicago, Illinois

National Louis University did quite well in the 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Admin ranking, coming in at #10. NLU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 15 ’s public admin degrees in 2020-2021.

NLU also took the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Among the 7,402 students enrolled at National Louis University, 15 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 14 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $9,078. To help with additional expenses, 1 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

Full National Louis University Veteran Student Life Report

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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