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2024 Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

4 Colleges in Illinois
186 Bachelor's Degrees
$43,885 Avg Early-Career Salary
If you plan on getting your bachelor's degree in public policy, you won't be alone since the degree program is ranked #121 in the country in terms of popularity. So, you have a fair amount of options to choose from when looking for a school.

In 2024, College Factual analyzed 4 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 186 bachelor's degrees in public policy to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Public Policy School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois Your choice of public policy for getting your bachelor's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

The overall quality of a bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we include a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a collection of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their bachelor's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your bachelor's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for public policy students working on their bachelor's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Public Policy Rankings Other Ranking Categories

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we've developed the Best Public Policy Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

To further help you make the college decision, we've developed a unique tool called College Combat that allows you to compare schools based on the factors that matter the most to you. Go ahead and give it a try, or bookmark the link so you can check it out later.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Public Policy in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in public policy.

Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Public Policy

1
105 Annual Graduates
$51,165 Median Starting Salary
$17,492 Median Student Debt

University of Chicago is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a bachelor's degree in public policy. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.

Public Policy bachelor's degree recipients from University of Chicago get an earnings boost of around $7,280 above the average earnings of public policy majors.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Chicago

2
45 Annual Graduates
$40,701 Median Starting Salary
$18,750 Median Student Debt

It's difficult to beat Northwestern University if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in public policy. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit university with a very large student population.

After graduation, public policy bachelor's recipients typically earn an average of $40,701 at the beginning of their careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from Northwestern University

3
26 Annual Graduates
$17,000 Median Student Debt

It's hard to beat University of Illinois at Chicago if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in public policy. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from University of Illinois at Chicago

4
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL

It is hard to beat DePaul University if you want to pursue a bachelor's degree in public policy. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.

Soon after graduating, public policy bachelor's recipients generally make an average of $39,789 in their early careers.

More information about a bachelor’s in public policy from DePaul University

Best Public Policy Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Public Policy Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 261 97
Ohio 252 22

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Public Policy is one of 4 different types of Public Administration & Social Service programs to choose from.

Public Policy Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
General Public Policy Analysis 186

Majors Similar to Public Policy

Related Major Annual Graduates
Community Organization & Advocacy 69
Human Services 54
Other Public Administration 30
Public Administration 6

Notes and References

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