2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois
Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing
Finding the Best Public Policy School for You
In 2020-2021, 536 degrees and certificates were awarded to public policy students who went to a Illinois college or university. This makes it the #60 most popular major in the state.
It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Course Advisor has developed this Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 6 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value programs for public policy students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.
Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.
In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.
Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality in Public Policy
Our 2023 rankings named University of Illinois at Chicago the best value school in Illinois for public policy students. Located in the large city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a fairly large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UIC are $15,603 per year.
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Loyola University Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois list. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Loyola Chicago are $47,808 per year.
As a testament to the quality of education it offers, Loyola Chicago also is in the top 20% of our Best Public Policy Schools in Illinois ranking.
Read full report on Public Policy at Loyola University Chicago
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DePaul University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois list. DePaul is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at DePaul are $42,012 a year. The average amount in student loans that public policy majors at DePaul take out is $27,000.
Full Public Policy at DePaul University Report
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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Chicago. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit school with a large student population.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UChicago are $60,963 per year. While working on their degree, public policy majors at UChicago accumulate an average of around $16,683 in student debt.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UChicago is ranked #2 for overall quality for public policy in Illinois.
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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Olivet Nazarene University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois list. Olivet Nazarene is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Bourbonnais.
In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Olivet Nazarene are $37,440 per year.
Full Public Policy at Olivet Nazarene University Report
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Northwestern University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Public Policy Schools in Illinois list. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.
The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northwestern are $60,768 a year. While working on their degree, public policy majors at Northwestern accumulate an average of around $17,059 in student debt.
In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Northwestern is ranked #1 for overall quality for public policy in Illinois.
Full Public Policy at Northwestern University Report
Request InformationBest Value Public Policy Colleges in the Great Lakes Region
Explore all the Best Value Public Policy Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.
| State | Degrees Awarded |
|---|---|
| Michigan | 267 |
| Ohio | 37 |
| Indiana | 8 |
| Wisconsin | 29 |
More Public Policy Rankings in Illinois
Public Policy Related Majors for Public Policy
Public Policy is one of 5 different types of programs to choose from.
Majors Similar to Public Policy
| Related Major | Annual Graduates |
|---|---|
| Social Work | 58,326 |
| Public Administration | 16,905 |
| Human Services | 13,238 |
| Community Organization & Advocacy | 3,096 |
| Other Public Administration | 588 |
Notes and References
*These averages are for the top 6 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 The Official CTBTO Photostream.
More about our data sources and methodologies.