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Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

28 Colleges
$28,346 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$32,860 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor's Degree School for You

Communication & Journalism is the #12 most popular major in Illinois with 4,261 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

The Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 28 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for communication and journalism students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for communication and journalism majors pursuing a bachelor's degree.

Top 10 Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for communication and journalism students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Illinois. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

Illinois State undergraduate students pay an average of $13,968 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Illinois State did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Illinois State University

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is a great value for communication and journalism students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a very large student population.

UIUC undergraduate students pay an average of $17,634 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UIUC did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #3 on our Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Full Communication & Journalism at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

Out of the 28 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville landed the # 3 spot on the list. SIUE is a large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

SIUE undergraduate students pay an average of $11,496 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Communication & Journalism at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Western Illinois University is a great value for communication and journalism students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at WIU are $13,297 a year.

Read More…

#5

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Eastern Illinois University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the town of Charleston, EIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at EIU are $12,297 per year.

Full Communication & Journalism at Eastern Illinois University Report

#6

Governors State University

University Park, IL

Governors State University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the rural area of University Park, GSU is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at GSU are $10,108 a year.

Read More…

University of Illinois at Springfield did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for communication and journalism students to get a bachelor’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. UIS is a small public school located in the midsize city of Springfield.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIS are $12,053 per year.

Read More…

Northern Illinois University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. NIU is a large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at NIU are $14,738 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Northern Illinois University

University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree communication and journalism programs. UIC is a very large public school located in the large city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIC are $15,603 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at University of Illinois at Chicago

Northeastern Illinois University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree communication and journalism programs. Northeastern Illinois University is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northeastern Illinois University are $12,064 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Northeastern Illinois University

Best Value Communication & Journalism Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Communication & Journalism Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 2,714
Michigan 3,555
Ohio 3,901
Wisconsin 1,988

Communication & Journalism Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Communication & Media Studies 66,787
Public Relations & Advertising 21,099
Radio, Television & Digital Communication 17,669
Journalism 13,552
Communication & Journalism (Other) 1,128
Publishing 336

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 327,871
Social Sciences 205,984
Psychology 195,678
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 55,820
History 32,731

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Josh Hallett.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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