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Best Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

2023 Best Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

32 Colleges
$49,367 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Master's Degree School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, education was ranked 4th in Illinois. In fact, 10,567 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

Today's students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 32 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best master's degree programs for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.

View our full ranking methodology.

2023 Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for education majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Education Master's Degree Schools

#1

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Our 2023 rankings named Northwestern University the best school in Illinois for education students working on their master’s degree. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.

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#2

North Central College

Naperville, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend North Central College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the midsize city of Naperville, North Central is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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Out of the 32 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of St Francis landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

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#5

Bradley University

Peoria, IL

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Bradley University is a great place for education students working on their master’s degree. Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Peoria.

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#6

Lewis University

Romeoville, IL

Lewis University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree education programs. Located in the suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit school with a moderately-sized student population.

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#7

Dominican University

River Forest, IL

Dominican University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list. Dominican U is a small private not-for-profit school located in the large suburb of River Forest.

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University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree education programs. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a very large student population.

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#9

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

Olivet Nazarene University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Bourbonnais.

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#10

Aurora University

Aurora, IL

Aurora University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

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Best Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 11,570
Michigan 5,939
Ohio 9,238
Wisconsin 5,792

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
General Education 29,810
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832
Student Counseling 13,858
Instructional Media Design 8,695
Teaching English or French 5,791
Other Education 4,858
Teaching Assistants 2,751
Educational Assessment 2,552
Multilingual Education 1,910
Education Philosophy 737
International Education 293

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Sciences 205,984
Psychology 195,678
Communication & Journalism 120,571
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 55,820
History 32,731

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.

  • Read more about our ranking methodology.
  • 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 Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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