2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Education Graduate Certificate 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.
The Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 23 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value graduate certificate programs for education 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. 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.
Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Top 10 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools
Our 2023 rankings named Illinois State University the best value school in Illinois for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Illinois State are $9,773 a year.
Full Education at Illinois State University Report
Request Information
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Concordia University, Chicago is a great value for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a medium-sized student population.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378 per year.
Read full report on Education at Concordia University, Chicago
Request Information
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Olivet Nazarene University is a great value for education students working on their graduate certificate. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Bourbonnais.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Olivet Nazarene are $12,190 a year.
Olivet Nazarene also took the #4 spot in our Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois rankings.
Full Education at Olivet Nazarene University Report
Request Information
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Governors State University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at GSU are $8,320 per year.
Read full report on Education at Governors State University
Request Information
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of St Francis. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.
University of Saint Francis graduate students pay an average of $13,839 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
University of Saint Francis also took the #3 spot in our Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois rankings.
Request Information
McKendree University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the 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 graduate students at McKendree are $9,756 per year.
Full Education at McKendree University Report
Request Information
Eastern Illinois University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. EIU is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Charleston.
In-state tuition fees for graduate students at EIU are $10,640 per year.
Request Information
National Louis University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Chicago, NLU is a private not-for-profit college with a moderately-sized student population.
NLU graduate students pay an average of $12,096 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Request Information
University of Illinois at Springfield came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the city of Springfield, UIS is a public school with a small student population.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UIS are $11,111 a year.
Full Education at University of Illinois at Springfield Report
Request Information
Western Illinois University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate education programs. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.
WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in in-state tuition and fees each year.
Read full report on Education at Western Illinois University
Request InformationBest Value Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
Explore all the Best Value 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 |
More Education Rankings in Illinois
Majors Related to Education
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 |
Most Popular Majors Related to Education
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 23 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 Horadrim.
More about our data sources and methodologies.