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2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

5 Ranked Colleges
227 Degrees Awarded
$11,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Public Policy is the 116th most popular major in the country with 6,199 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. In 2017-2018, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $52,077 and had an average of $35,743 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 654 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $51,600 and $37,312 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 227 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 5 colleges that offered a degree in public policy. Not only do the schools that top this list have excellent public policy programs, but they also cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the public policy program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important 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 Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 129 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $2,712 for illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UChicago.

With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low student loan default rate of 0.6% 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 Policy at UChicago

#2

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 #2 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Northwestern is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 66 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Northwestern also took the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern is $1,866 for illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.8%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read more about Public Policy at Northwestern

#3 in overall quality

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 Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of Illinois at Chicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 25 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

UIC also took the #3 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $10,648 for illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of Illinois at Chicago.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 3.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at UIC

#4

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Olivet Nazarene University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Olivet Nazarene is located in Bourbonnais, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

Olivet Nazarene also took the #4 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene is $15,806 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

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%.

Full Olivet Nazarene University Public Policy Report

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #5 spot on the list. DePaul is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 5 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

DePaul also took the #5 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend DePaul University is $26,173 for illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $0-$30k.

The low student loan default rate of 4.5% 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 DePaul Public Policy Report

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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