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Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

16 Colleges
$25,952 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$32,881 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, liberal arts / sciences and humanities students earned 18,292 degrees and certificates from an Illinois school, making the subject the 3rd 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. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 16 schools in Illinois to see which bachelor's degree programs offered the best value experiences for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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.

Top 10 Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Bachelor's Degree Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Western Illinois University the best value school in Illinois for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. WIU is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Macomb.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WIU are $13,297 per year.

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#2

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Eastern Illinois University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. EIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Charleston.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at EIU are $12,297 per year.

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#3

Governors State University

University Park, IL

Out of the 16 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Governors State University landed the # 3 spot on the list. GSU is a small public school located in the rural area of University Park.

GSU undergraduate students pay an average of $10,108 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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The excellent bachelor’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Springfield helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value liberal arts / sciences and humanities schools in Illinois. Located in the midsize city of Springfield, UIS is a public school with a small student population.

UIS undergraduate students pay an average of $12,053 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 16 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Illinois State University landed the # 5 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Illinois State are $13,968 per year.

Illinois State also took the #5 spot in our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

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With a ranking of #6, Northeastern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northeastern Illinois University are $12,064 a year.

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With a ranking of #7, Northern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

NIU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,738 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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With a ranking of #8, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SIUC are $15,240 a year.

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With a ranking of #9, Chicago State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their bachelor’s degree. CSU is a small public school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at CSU are $11,204 a year.

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#10

DePaul University

Chicago, IL

DePaul University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

DePaul undergraduate students pay an average of $42,012 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 3,815
Michigan 9,711
Ohio 11,432
Wisconsin 2,376

Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Liberal Arts General Studies 556,813

Majors Similar to Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities

Related Major Annual Graduates
Visual & Performing Arts 149,215
English Language & Literature 54,635
Foreign Languages & Linguistics 33,333
Theology & Religious Vocations 27,459
Philosophy & Religious Studies 19,993

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 16 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 Jacques Sablet (Switzerland, Morges, 1749-1803).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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