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

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

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

15 Colleges
$15,372 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$47,415 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Communication & Journalism Master'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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Value Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 15 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for communication and journalism students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois

Check out the communication and journalism master's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Communication & Journalism Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Columbia College Chicago to be the best value school for communication and journalism students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the city of Chicago, Columbia is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Columbia are $2,350 per year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Illinois State University. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Illinois State are $9,773 a year.

Illinois State not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #5 on our Best Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

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#3

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Out of the 15 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Eastern Illinois University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the town of Charleston, EIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at EIU are $10,640 a year.

Full Communication & Journalism at Eastern Illinois University Report

Out of the 15 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UIUC are $17,823 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UIUC is ranked #3 for overall quality for communication and journalism in Illinois.

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#5

Governors State University

University Park, IL

The excellent master’s degree programs at Governors State University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value communication and journalism schools in Illinois. Located in the rural area of University Park, GSU is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at GSU are $8,320 a year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Governors State University

Northern Illinois University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. NIU is a large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NIU are $11,390 per year.

Full Communication & Journalism at Northern Illinois University Report

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. SIUE is a large public school located in the large suburb of Edwardsville.

SIUE graduate students pay an average of $9,316 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Communication & Journalism at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Northeastern Illinois University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Northeastern Illinois University is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Northeastern Illinois University are $9,428 per year.

Full Communication & Journalism at Northeastern Illinois University Report

With a ranking of #9, University of Illinois at Springfield did quite well on this year’s best value schools for communication and journalism students working on their master’s degree. UIS is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Springfield.

UIS graduate students pay an average of $11,111 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Communication & Journalism at University of Illinois at Springfield Report

Western Illinois University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Communication & Journalism Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Best Value Communication & Journalism Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Communication & Journalism Schools 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 15 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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