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2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

8 Ranked Colleges
544 Degrees Awarded
$16,700 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

With all of the options students have for higher education today, it can be tough to choose which direction to take. College Factual has developed its “Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking as one item you can use to help make this decision.

In 2019-2020, 17,506 people earned their degree in film, video and photographic arts, making the major the 64th most popular in the United States. In 2017-2018, film, video and photographic arts graduates who were awarded their degree in 2015-2017, earned an average of $22,714 and had an average of $31,549 in loans still to pay off.

Across Illinois, there were 631 film, video and photographic arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $23,838 and $41,036 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 544 film, video and photographic arts graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 8 colleges that offered a degree in film, video and photographic arts. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great film, video and photographic arts programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

When determining these rankings, we looked at things such as overall quality of the film, video and photographic arts program at the school and the cost to attend the school once aid has been awarded. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” 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. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k.

Top 8 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #1 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 13 bachelors’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $2,712 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend UChicago.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 100%. The student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 is a sign that students will have more opportunities to engage with their professors one-on-one. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 0.6%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at University of Chicago

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s film degrees to 11 students in 2019-2020.

UIUC also made our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. The estimated yearly cost for University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is $5,477 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 94%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.4%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at UIUC

Out of the 8 schools in the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #3 spot on the list. SIUC is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 38 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUC, the school also landed the #6 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $13,658 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend SIUC.

Read full report on Film, Video & Photographic Arts at SIUC

#4

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Bradley University is located in Peoria, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 9 bachelors’s film degrees to qualified students.

Bradley also made our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. The yearly cost to attend Bradley University is $17,205 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k.

With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students. The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 2.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full Bradley University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#5

Dominican University

River Forest, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Dominican University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Dominican U is a private not-for-profit institution located in River Forest, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k list, Dominican U has also earned the #7 rank in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $17,060 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Dominican University.

Since the school has a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, those pursuing a degree will have more opportunities to interact with their professors.

Full Dominican University Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#6

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Columbia College Chicago ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this medium-sized private not-for-profit school awarded 312 degrees to qualified bachelors’s film students in 2019-2020.

Columbia also took the #5 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $27,120 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Columbia College Chicago.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Columbia

#7

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

With a ranking of #7, DePaul University did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s film degrees to 156 students in 2019-2020.

DePaul not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #4 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for DePaul University is $26,173 for illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k.

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 more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at DePaul

#8

American Academy of Art

Chicago, Illinois
#8 in overall quality

American Academy of Art landed the #8 spot on the 2022 Best Value Film Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k ranking. American Academy of Art is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 2 bachelors’s degrees in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree film students whose families make $0-$30k list, The Academy has also earned the #8 rank in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $23,987 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Film students whose families make $0-$30k 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.

Full The Academy Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

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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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