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2023 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Illinois

7 Ranked Colleges
186 Degrees Awarded
$43,885 Avg Salary
Schools for a Bachelor's Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Public Policy is the 113th most popular major in the country with 6,430 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, public policy graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $49,451 and had an average of $21,866 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 536 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $49,931 and $20,247 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 186 public policy graduates with average earnings and debt of $40,117 and $25,584 respectively.

For this year’s “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 7 colleges that offer a degree in public policy. The colleges and universities that top this list are recognized because their public policy program is one of the largest majors offered at the school.

Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

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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 “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois” list to help you make the college decision.

You can create your own custom comparison that focuses on the factors most important to you using our tool, College Combat. Test it out by comparing your favorite schools against others you are considering, or bookmark the tool so you can experiment with it later.

Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best “Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois”.

Top 7 Most Focused Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Public Policy in Illinois

1
UChicago crest
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 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois. 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 105 students in 2020-2021.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 1.0% 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%. The impressive undergraduate 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.

Read full report on Public Policy at UChicago

2
Northwestern crest
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #2 spot on the list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 45 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%. The undergraduate 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. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Northwestern University

3
Olivet Nazarene crest
Olivet Nazarene University
Bourbonnais, Illinois

Out of the 7 schools in the Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Olivet Nazarene University landed the #3 spot on the list. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Bourbonnais, Illinois. It awarded 4 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.7%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Olivet Nazarene

4

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. UIC is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 26 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.5% 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%.

Read more about Public Policy at University of Illinois at Chicago

5
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DePaul University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. DePaul is a large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 6 bachelors’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.7% 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 DePaul University

6
Knox crest
Knox College
Galesburg, Illinois

Knox College ranked #6 on this year’s Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. Knox is located in Galesburg, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 bachelors’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors. The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Knox

6

University of Illinois at Springfield landed the #6 spot on the 2023 Schools for a Bachelor’s Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois ranking. Springfield, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s public policy degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 3.9%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full University of Illinois at Springfield Public Policy Report

Notes and References

References

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