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2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k

5 Ranked Colleges
227 Degrees Awarded
$21,400 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k” ranking is part of that endeavor.

In 2019-2020, 6,199 people earned their degree in public policy, making the major the 116th most popular in the United States. 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 $75-$110k” ranking looked at 5 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great public policy programs and 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. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

The public policy 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 Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k”.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k.

Top 5 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy (Income $75-$110k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 129 students in 2019-2020.

UChicago also took the #1 spot in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for UChicago is $17,929 for illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read more about 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 $75-$110k. Located in Evanston, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 66 degrees to qualified bachelors’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k list, Northwestern has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Northwestern University is $16,784 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $75-$110k.

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. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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 Northwestern University

#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 $75-$110k list. UIC 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 did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for UIC is $20,270 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Public Policy students whose families make $75-$110k.

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 Public Policy Report

#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 $75-$110k. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Bourbonnais, Illinois. It awarded 2 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k list, Olivet Nazarene has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Olivet Nazarene University is $21,306 for illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k.

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%.

Full Olivet Nazarene Public Policy Report

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DePaul University. It ranked #5 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $75-$110k list. DePaul University is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 5 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k list, DePaul has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Public Policy Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $30,877 for illinois bachelor’s degree public policy students whose families make $75-$110k per year to attend DePaul University.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at DePaul

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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