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Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

31 Colleges
$9,225 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$23,818 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate 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.

The Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate 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 31 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value undergraduate certificate programs for liberal arts / sciences and humanities 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 Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Elgin Community College to be the best value school for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students who want to pursue a undergraduate certificate in Illinois. ECC is a medium-sized public school located in the medium-sized city of Elgin.

ECC undergraduate students pay an average of $7,140 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Elgin Community College

#2

Black Hawk College

Moline, IL

The excellent undergraduate certificate programs at Black Hawk College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value liberal arts / sciences and humanities schools in Illinois. BHC is a small public school located in the city of Moline.

BHC undergraduate students pay an average of $7,500 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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Out of the 31 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Shawnee Community College landed the # 3 spot on the list. Shawnee Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Ullin.

Shawnee Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,090 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Shawnee Community College

#4

Carl Sandburg College

Galesburg, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Carl Sandburg College. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the rural area of Galesburg, Carl Sandburg College is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Carl Sandburg College are $7,860 per year.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend William Rainey Harper College. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Harper College is a large public school located in the large suburb of Palatine.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Harper College are $9,870 per year.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Harper College also is in the top 15% of our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking.

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#6

College of Lake County

Grayslake, IL

College of Lake County landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value undergraduate certificate liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the large suburb of Grayslake, College of Lake County is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at College of Lake County are $9,632 a year.

College of Lake County also claimed a spot on our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at College of Lake County

#7

McHenry County College

Crystal Lake, IL

McHenry County College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value undergraduate certificate liberal arts / sciences and humanities programs. Located in the rural area of Crystal Lake, MCC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at MCC are $11,608 per year.

MCC also took the #5 spot in our Best Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at McHenry County College Report

Lewis and Clark Community College ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Liberal Arts & Humanities Undergraduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Lewis and Clark Community College is a small public school located in the suburb of Godfrey.

Lewis and Clark Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $9,552 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Lewis and Clark Community College Report

John Wood Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students to get a undergraduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. John Wood Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Quincy.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at John Wood Community College are $8,190 per year.

Read full report on Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at John Wood Community College

#10

Lake Land College

Mattoon, IL

With a ranking of #10, Lake Land College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for liberal arts / sciences and humanities students working on their undergraduate certificate. Lake Land College is a small public school located in the distant town of Mattoon.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Lake Land College are $8,104 a year.

Full Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities at Lake Land College Report

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

Explore all the Best Value Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools 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 25 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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