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William Rainey Harper College

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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?

4,340 Undergraduate Awards
  • 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.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#1 Best Textile & Apparel Studies Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#3 Best Family, Consumer & Human Sciences Undergraduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#3 Best Child Development & Family Studies Undergraduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#11 Best Fire Protection Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#17 Best Accounting Undergraduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#19 Best Liberal Arts General Studies Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#19 Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#39 Best Business, Management & Marketing Undergraduate Certificate Schools Tweet It - Post It
#57 Best Allied Health Professions Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#88 Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Associate Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It

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?

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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

Since William Rainey Harper College has an open admissions policy, you should not have any trouble getting into the school as long as you have a high school diploma or the equivalent.

Can I Afford William Rainey Harper College?

4% Take Out Loans
7.3% Loan Default Rate

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

4,405 Full-Time Undergraduates
51% Women
47% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 12,199 undergraduate students at Harper College, with 4,405 being full-time and 7,794 being part-time.

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Gender Diversity

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

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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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

8,444 Took All Classes Online
10,549 Took At Least One Class Online
213.7% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 10,549 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Harper College has changed over the last few years.

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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.

Major Basic Certificate Associate’s Undergraduate Certificate TOTAL
Liberal Arts General Studies 0 1,001 746 1,747
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 643 0 35 678
Biological & Physical Science 0 379 0 379
Accounting 119 11 10 140
Business Administration & Management 72 52 0 124
Allied Health Professions 19 57 29 105
Nursing 0 105 0 105
Business Support & Assistant Services 93 7 0 100
Precision Metal Working 62 2 10 74
Human Development & Family Studies 49 8 11 68
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 43 0 22 65
Heating, Air Conditioning, Ventilation & Refrigeration 64 1 0 65
Design & Applied Arts 14 35 15 64
Computer Engineering Technology 51 0 0 51
Health & Medical Administrative Services 24 22 1 47
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science 44 0 0 44
Electronics Maintenance & Repair 43 0 0 43
Criminal Justice & Corrections 10 30 0 40
General Engineering 0 39 0 39
Fire Protection 0 34 0 34
Human Resource Management 31 0 0 31
Legal Support Services 20 10 0 30
Industrial Production Technology 11 17 0 28
Drafting & Design Engineering Technology 23 0 0 23
Homeland Security 19 2 0 21
Information Technology 20 0 0 20
Graphic Communications 2 0 16 18
Computer Programming 14 3 0 17
Computer Systems Networking 14 0 0 14
Hospitality Management 3 9 0 12
Insurance 12 0 0 12
Somatic Bodywork & Therapeutic Services 0 0 12 12
Culinary Arts 9 0 3 12
Human Services 0 12 0 12
Specialized Sales, Merchandising & Marketing 0 11 0 11
Teaching English or French 10 0 0 10
Information Science 0 7 0 7
Textile & Apparel Studies 1 6 0 7
Computer Software & Applications 3 2 0 5
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 2 3 0 5
Geography & Cartography 5 0 0 5
Music 0 5 0 5
General Sales & Marketing 2 0 0 2
Building Management & Inspection 1 1 0 2
Electronics Engineering Technology 0 2 0 2
Fine & Studio Arts 0 2 0 2
Finance & Financial Management 1 0 0 1
Teaching Assistants 0 0 1 1
Public Health 1 0 0 1
American Sign Language 0 0 0 0
Dental Support Services 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 1,554 1,875 911 4,340

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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