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Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

23 Colleges
$18,339 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$61,137 Avg Salary

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.

2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

Check out the education graduate certificate programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

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 school with a very large student population.

Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $9,773 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at Illinois State University

#2

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Concordia University, Chicago. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Concordia University, Chicago are $9,378 a year.

Read More…

#3

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Olivet Nazarene University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the small suburb of Bourbonnais.

Olivet Nazarene graduate students pay an average of $12,190 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Olivet Nazarene also took the #4 spot in our Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois rankings.

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#4

Governors State University

University Park, IL

Out of the 23 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Governors State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

GSU graduate students pay an average of $8,320 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of St Francis is a great value for education students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the suburb of Joliet, University of Saint Francis is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 per year.

University of Saint Francis also took the #3 spot in our Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois rankings.

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#6

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

McKendree University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at McKendree are $9,756 a year.

Full Education at McKendree University Report

#7

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Eastern Illinois University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. EIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Charleston.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at EIU are $10,640 per year.

Read full report on Education at Eastern Illinois University

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 school with a medium-sized student population.

NLU graduate students pay an average of $12,096 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at National Louis University

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 medium-sized city of Springfield, UIS is a public college with a small student population.

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

Read full report on Education at University of Illinois at Springfield

With a ranking of #10, Western Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. WIU is a moderately-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

Best 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

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 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.

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