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

4 Ranked Colleges
67 Degrees Awarded
$25,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Photography 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. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking.

In 2019-2020, 2,438 people earned their degree in photography, making the major the 291st most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 73 photography graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 67 photography graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking looked at 4 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in photography. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great photography programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the photography program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

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The photography school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we’ve developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of “Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois”.

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. We encourage you to try it out and pit your favorite colleges and universities head to head! If you don’t have time right now, you can bookmark it for later.

Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree photography students.

Top 4 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Photography in Illinois

#1

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Champaign, Illinois
#1 in overall quality
$15,880 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a large public school situated in Champaign, Illinois. It awarded 11 bachelors’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $15,880 for illinois bachelor’s degree photography students.

The student loan default rate at the school is 2.4%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year.

Read full report on Photography at UIUC

#2

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#3 in overall quality
$31,099 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Columbia College Chicago. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Columbia is a medium-sized school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 44 bachelors’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

Columbia also made our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $31,099 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Photography students per year to attend Columbia.

Read more about Photography at Columbia

#3

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#2 in overall quality
$25,634 Average Net Price

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #3 for the Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Peoria, Illinois. It awarded 9 bachelors’s photography degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Bradley, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Bradley is $25,634 for illinois bachelor’s degree photography students.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 86%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. 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%.

Read full report on Photography at Bradley University

#4

American Academy of Art

Chicago, Illinois
#4 in overall quality
$28,106 Average Net Price

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend American Academy of Art. It ranked #4 on our 2022 Best Value Photography Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. American Academy of Art is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a small student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s photography degrees to qualified students.

The Academy did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Photography Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $28,106 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Photography students per year to attend The Academy.

The student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one.

Read full report on Photography at American Academy of Art

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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