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2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy

5 Ranked Colleges
536 Degrees Awarded
$37,900 Avg Cost*
Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for veterans. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy” ranking.

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 “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy” ranking, we looked at 5 colleges that offer a degree in public policy. This ranking identifies schools with high-quality public policy programs as well as strong veteran support.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the public policy program at the school, veteran affordability, and veteran population. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that 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 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.

Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy

The following schools top our list of the Best “Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy”.

Top 5 Best Public Policy Colleges for Veterans in Illinois

1
UChicago crest
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

Out of the 5 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Chicago landed the #1 spot on the list. UChicago is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2020-2021, this school awarded 411 ’s public policy degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UChicago, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 241 of the 17,834 students enrolled at University of Chicago were GI Bill® students, of which 113 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $18,948. To help with additional expenses, 58 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program.

With a freshman retention rate of 100%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its undergraduate students. Since the school has a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 5 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 [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full UChicago Veteran Student Life Report

2

Out of the 5 schools in the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #2 spot on the list. UIC is a public institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 27 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at UIC, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.Our most recent data shows that 1 of the 33,518 students enrolled at UIC were GI Bill® students, of which 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $23,878. During this same period, 0 students qualified for the Yellow Ribbon Program. Students may be able to receive credit for their military training, depending on their background.

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

[Read full report on veteran student life at UIC]](/colleges/university-of-illinois-at-chicago/student-life/veterans/)

3
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DePaul University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 26 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

DePaul also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Among the 21,922 students enrolled at DePaul University, 528 are GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 367 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $14,957. On top of their other funding sources, 101 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. DePaul University does offer credit for military training for eligible students.

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

Full DePaul Veteran Student Life Report

4
Loyola Chicago crest
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loyola University Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy list. This fairly large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 8 ’s public policy degrees in 2020-2021.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Loyola Chicago, the school also landed the #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS] spot in our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” ranking.According to our most recent data, Loyola University Chicago supports 16,893 students, and 261 of those are GI Bill® students, of which 165 are Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average Post-9/11 GI Bill® award for tuition and fees at the school was $17,263. To help with additional expenses, 78 students received funds through the Yellow Ribbon Program. Eligible students may be able to receive credit for their military training.

The undergrad student loan default rate at the school is [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]%, 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 More…

5
Northwestern crest
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 #5 for the Most Veteran Friendly in Illinois for Public Policy. Located in Evanston, Illinois, this large private not-for-profit school awarded 45 degrees to qualified ’s public policy students in 2020-2021.

Northwestern also made our “[COLLEGE_QUALITY_NAME_ALL_LEVELS]” list, coming in at #[COLLEGE_QUALITY_RANK_ALL_LEVELS].Of the 22,603 students enrolled at Northwestern, 1 were GI Bill® students, according to our most recent data. Out of that number, 1 were Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients. The average tuition and fees award for the Post-9/11 GI Bill® recipients was $399. On top of their other funding sources, 0 students received scholarships through the Yellow Ribbon Program.

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 [DEFAULT_RATE_STRING]% 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%. With a undergrad student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Full Northwestern University Veteran Student Life Report

Notes and References

References

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

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