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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Acting in Illinois

6 Ranked Colleges
109 Degrees Awarded
$24,800 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois

When it comes to choosing a college, students have a lot of options - but not all of them are good. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

Acting is the 319th most popular major in the country with 1,944 degrees awarded in 2019-2020.

Across Illinois, there were 130 acting graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 109 acting graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking analyzed 6 colleges that offered a degree in acting. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great acting programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the acting program at the school. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

More Ways to Rank Acting Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

In addition to College Factual’s rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don’t forget it.

Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Acting in Illinois

#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. University of Illinois at Chicago is a large public school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 9 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree acting students list, UIC has also earned the #5 rank in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $13,312 for illinois bachelor’s degree acting students per year to attend University of Illinois at Chicago.

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 full report on Acting at UIC

#2

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Bradley University. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. Bradley University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Peoria, Illinois. It awarded 2 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bradley, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Bradley University is $25,634 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Acting students.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The student loan default rate at the school is 2.5%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Bradley Acting Report

#3

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#4 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Columbia College Chicago landed the #3 spot on the list. Columbia is a medium-sized school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 60 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

Columbia did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend Columbia is $31,099 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Acting students.

Read full report on Acting at Columbia College Chicago

#4

Roosevelt University

Chicago, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Roosevelt University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this small private not-for-profit school awarded 16 degrees to qualified bachelors’s acting students in 2019-2020.

Roosevelt not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Roosevelt University is $22,749 for illinois bachelor’s degree acting students.

Read more about Acting at Roosevelt

#5

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend DePaul University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. DePaul is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 19 bachelors’s acting degrees to qualified students.

DePaul also made our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $30,090 for illinois bachelor’s degree acting students per year to attend DePaul University.

The low student loan default rate of 4.5% 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 full report on Acting at DePaul

#6

Illinois Wesleyan University

Bloomington, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

Illinois Wesleyan University landed the #6 spot on the 2022 Best Value Acting Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. This small school is located in Bloomington, Illinois, and it awarded 3 bachelors’s acting degrees in 2019-2020.

Illinois Wesleyan did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Acting Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for Illinois Wesleyan University is $26,039 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Acting students.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 1.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%. With a freshman retention rate of 87%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Read more about Acting at Illinois Wesleyan University

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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