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2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

10 Ranked Colleges
631 Degrees Awarded
$23,200 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

When pursuing a degree in today’s world, students have many different options to choose from. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking - to help you make that decision.

Film, Video & Photographic Arts is the 64th most popular major in the country with 17,506 degrees awarded in 2019-2020. 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.

For this year’s “Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid” ranking, we looked at 10 colleges that offer 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.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the film, video and photographic arts program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The film 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 Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid”.

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 in Illinois For Those Getting Aid

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid.

Top 10 Best Value Colleges for Film, Video & Photographic Arts in Illinois (With Aid)

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 Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. UIUC is a large school located in Champaign, Illinois that handed out 11 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

UIUC not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. The estimated yearly cost for UIUC is $15,880 for illinois film students with aid.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 94%. 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%.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large public school handed out 3 diplomas to qualified ’s film students in 2019-2020.

UIC also took the #7 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend University of Illinois at Chicago is $13,312 for Illinois Film students with aid.

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out ’s film degrees to 38 students in 2019-2020.

SIUC also took the #8 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for SIUC is $16,945 for illinois film students with aid.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

#4

Dominican University

River Forest, Illinois

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Dominican University landed the #4 spot on the list. Dominican University is a small private not-for-profit school situated in River Forest, Illinois. It awarded 1 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Dominican U, the school also landed the #9 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Dominican University is $19,268 for Illinois Film students with aid.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Dominican University

#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, Illinois

Out of the 10 schools in the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid that were part of this year’s ranking, Northwestern University landed the #5 spot on the list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and, has a large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 13 ’s film degrees to qualified students.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at Northwestern, the school also landed the #2 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Northwestern University is $24,664 for Illinois Film students with aid.

The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 6 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools. The low student loan default rate of 0.8% 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%. Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 97%.

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

#6

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois

Bradley University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid list. Bradley University is a private not-for-profit institution located in Peoria, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 9 ’s degrees in 2019-2020.

Bradley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #4 on our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $25,634 for Illinois Film students with aid per year to attend Bradley.

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

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at Bradley

#7

Columbia College Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

Columbia College Chicago did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #7. Columbia is located in Chicago, Illinois and, has a medium-sized student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 336 ’s film degrees to qualified students.

Columbia also made our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #6. It costs about $31,099 for Illinois Film students with aid per year to attend Columbia.

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

#8

University of Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

University of Chicago came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. University of Chicago is a fairly large school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 14 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

UChicago also took the #3 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend UChicago is $27,315 for illinois film students with aid.

The low student loan default rate of 0.6% 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%. The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 100%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The impressive student-to-faculty ratio of 5 to 1 means that students may have more opportunities to work more closely with their professors than they would at other schools.

Read more about Film, Video & Photographic Arts at UChicago

#9

DePaul University

Chicago, Illinois

DePaul University did quite well in the 2022 Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking, coming in at #9. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 195 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

DePaul also took the #5 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $30,090 for Illinois Film students with aid per year to attend DePaul.

The school has an impressive student loan default rate. It’s only 4.5%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full DePaul Film, Video & Photographic Arts Report

#10

American Academy of Art

Chicago, Illinois

American Academy of Art came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Film Schools in Illinois For Those Getting Aid ranking. This small school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 2 ’s film degrees in 2019-2020.

The Academy also took the #10 spot in our “Best Film, Video & Photographic Arts Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for The Academy is $28,106 for Illinois Film students with aid.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of 7 to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

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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