William Rainey Harper College Overview
William Rainey Harper College is a public institution situated in Palatine, Illinois. The suburban atmosphere of Palatine makes it a great place for students who want the amenities of city life without actually living in the middle of a constant hustle and bustle.
What Is William Rainey Harper College Known For?
- The associate's degree is the highest award offered at Harper College.
- In 2017-2018, 33% of the faculty were full-time.
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William Rainey Harper College Rankings
Harper College is ranked #380 out of 2,587 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 15% of all schools in the nation. Harper College also holds the #12 spot on the Best Colleges in Illinois ranking.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
Harper College has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#47 | Best Undergraduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#111 | Best Associate Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Harper College.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Harper College has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Parts, Warehousing, and Inventory Management Operations Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Fashion & Fabric Consultant Schools | College Factual |
#4 | Best Fire Science Schools | College Factual |
#14 | Best Fire Protection Schools | College Factual |
#82 | Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools | College Factual |
#82 | Best Liberal Arts General Studies Schools | College Factual |
Where Is William Rainey Harper College?

Contact details for Harper College are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 1200 W Algonquin Rd, Palatine, IL 60067-7398 |
Phone: | 847-925-6000 |
How Do I Get Into Harper College?
You can apply to Harper College online at: https://www.harpercollege.edu/start/apply/index.php
Can I Afford William Rainey Harper College?
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Harper College, approximately 4% of students took out student loans averaging $4,297 a year. That adds up to $17,188 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Harper College is 7.3%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.
William Rainey Harper College Undergraduate Student Diversity

Gender Diversity
Of the 4,405 full-time undergraduates at Harper College, 49% are male and 51% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of William Rainey Harper College students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 602 |
Black or African American | 140 |
Hispanic or Latino | 1,153 |
White | 2,218 |
International Students | 77 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 215 |
Over 36 countries are represented at Harper College. The most popular countries sending students to the school are South Korea, India, and China.
Online Learning at William Rainey Harper College
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Harper College has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 84th most popular in Illinois for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Growth Rankings of Harper College
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at William Rainey Harper College was 213.7%. This is the #270 largest growth rate of all schools that are mostly online. This refers to all students at Harper College regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Harper College majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Human Resource Management | 6% |
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | 44% |
Liberal Arts General Studies | 44% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Harper College ranks compared to all other mostly online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Harper College.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Accounting | #40 | |
Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities | #57 | |
Liberal Arts General Studies | #57 | |
Business, Management & Marketing | #181 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
William Rainey Harper College Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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