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2023 Most Focused Colleges for Public Policy in Illinois

10 Ranked Colleges
536 Degrees Awarded
$33,400 Avg Cost*
Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois

Students have lots of options to chooose from today when trying to decide which college to attend. College Factual was founded, in part, to help students make the decision as to what would be the best school for them. Our “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois” ranking is part of that endeavor.

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.

For this year’s “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois” ranking, we looked at 10 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.

For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

More Ways to Rank Public Policy Schools

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Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to 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.

Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois public policy students.

Top 10 Most Focused Colleges for Public Policy in Illinois

1
UChicago crest
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 10 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. University of Chicago is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 411 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

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. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 1.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Public Policy at UChicago

2
Adler crest
Adler University
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Adler University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. Adler is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 15 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed. The low undergrad student loan default rate of 2.2% 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 Adler University

3
Northwestern crest
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. Located in Evanston, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 45 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

With a freshman retention rate of 97%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. The low undergrad 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%. The impressive undergraduate 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.

Read full report on Public Policy at Northwestern University

4
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 10 schools in the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, DePaul University landed the #4 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 26 ’s 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 full report on Public Policy at DePaul

5

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large public school handed out 27 diplomas to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at UIC

6
Olivet Nazarene crest
Olivet Nazarene University
Bourbonnais, Illinois

Olivet Nazarene University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois ranking. Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit institution located in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 4 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Public Policy at Olivet Nazarene University

7
Loyola Chicago crest
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Loyola University Chicago came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois ranking. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 8 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is 2.7%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 85%.

Read full report on Public Policy at Loyola University Chicago

8
Knox crest
Knox College
Galesburg, Illinois

Knox College landed the #8 spot on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois ranking. Knox College is located in Galesburg, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 0 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.3%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. The undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Full Knox College Public Policy Report

8

With a ranking of #8, University of Illinois at Springfield did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. Springfield, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s public policy degrees to 0 students in 2020-2021.

The low undergrad student loan default rate of 3.9% 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 UIS

8
NLU crest
National Louis University
Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #8, National Louis University did quite well on the 2023 Schools Highly Focused on Public Policy Major in Illinois list. National Louis University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 0 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

Full NLU Public Policy Report

Notes and References

References

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