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2022 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in Illinois (With Aid)

7 Ranked Colleges
654 Degrees Awarded
$23,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

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 Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking.

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.

This year’s “Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking looked at 7 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in public policy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public policy programs that also have a lower cost than schools of similar quality.

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

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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 Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” list to help you make the college decision.

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. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid.

Top 7 Best Value Colleges for Public Policy in Illinois (With Aid)

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Illinois at Chicago. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 27 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UIC also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $13,312 for illinois public policy students with aid 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 full report on Public Policy at UIC

#2

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Northwestern is a private not-for-profit institution located in Evanston, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 66 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $24,664 for illinois public policy students with aid per year to attend Northwestern University.

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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. 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.

Full Northwestern Public Policy Report

#3

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. This fairly large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 511 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Chicago is $27,315 for Illinois Public Policy students with aid.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The student loan default rate at the school is 0.6%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Chicago Public Policy Report

#4

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Olivet Nazarene University landed the #4 spot on the list. Bourbonnais, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

Olivet Nazarene also took the #5 spot in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $20,195 for illinois public policy students with aid per year to attend Olivet Nazarene University.

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%.

Read more about Public Policy at Olivet Nazarene University

#5

National Louis University

Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, National Louis University landed the #5 spot on the list. This medium-sized school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 1 ’s public policy degrees in 2019-2020.

NLU also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #8. It costs about $14,957 for illinois public policy students with aid per year to attend National Louis University.

Full NLU Public Policy Report

#6

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 27 students in 2019-2020.

DePaul also made our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. The yearly cost to attend DePaul is $30,090 for illinois public policy students with aid.

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%.

Full DePaul Public Policy Report

#7

Loyola University Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Loyola University Chicago ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this fairly large private not-for-profit school handed out 12 diplomas to qualified ’s public policy students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois public policy students with aid list, Loyola Chicago has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Loyola University Chicago is $35,407 for Illinois Public Policy students with aid.

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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 85%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Full Loyola Chicago 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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