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Best Value General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

10 Colleges
$37,619 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$35,282 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education Bachelor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, 453 degrees and certificates were awarded to general education students who went to a Illinois college or university. This makes it the #69 most popular major in the state.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one 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 help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 10 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value bachelor's degree programs for education students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois

Check out the education bachelor's degree programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best General Education Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to be the best value school for general education students who want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Illinois. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIUC are $17,634 per year.

UIUC also took the #3 spot in our Best General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Read full report on General Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

#2

Trinity Christian College

Palos Heights, IL

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Trinity Christian College is a great value for general education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Trinity Christian is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of Palos Heights.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Trinity Christian are $33,275 per year.

Read full report on General Education at Trinity Christian College

#3

Dominican University

River Forest, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Dominican University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Dominican U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.

Dominican U undergraduate students pay an average of $35,420 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on General Education at Dominican University

#4

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, IL

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Elmhurst University is a great value for general education students working on their bachelor’s degree. Elmhurst is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Elmhurst.

Elmhurst undergraduate students pay an average of $39,400 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on General Education at Elmhurst University

#5

Illinois Wesleyan University

Bloomington, IL

The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at Illinois Wesleyan University helped the school earn the #5 place on this year’s ranking of the best value general education schools in Illinois. Located in the city of Bloomington, Illinois Wesleyan is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Illinois Wesleyan are $52,512 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Illinois Wesleyan is ranked #4 for overall quality for education in Illinois.

Read More…

#6

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

Concordia University, Chicago landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree general education programs. Located in the suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Concordia University, Chicago are $34,310 per year.

Read full report on General Education at Concordia University, Chicago

#7

Monmouth College

Monmouth, IL

Monmouth College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value bachelor’s degree general education programs. Monmouth is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Monmouth.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Monmouth are $41,390 per year.

Read full report on General Education at Monmouth College

#8

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

McKendree University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at McKendree are $33,050 per year.

Full General Education at McKendree University Report

#9

Roosevelt University

Chicago, IL

Roosevelt University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Roosevelt is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Roosevelt undergraduate students pay an average of $31,493 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that education majors at Roosevelt take out while working on their Bachelor's Degree is $28,396.

Full General Education at Roosevelt University Report

#10

Knox College

Galesburg, IL

Knox College ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value General Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Knox is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Galesburg.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Knox are $51,576 per year.

Read More…

Best Value General Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value General Education Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 700
Ohio 706
Indiana 502
Wisconsin 515

One of 14 majors within the area of study, general education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 10 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 KOKUYO.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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