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Best Value Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

14 Colleges
$28,105 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,963 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Geography & Cartography School for You

In 2020-2021, 191 degrees and certificates were awarded to geography and cartography students who went to a Illinois college or university. This makes it the #119 most popular major in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Course Advisor has created the Best Value Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 14 schools in Illinois to see which programs offered the best value experiences for geography 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. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois

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

Top 10 Best Geography & Cartography Schools

$13,968 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for geography and cartography students who want to pursue a degree in Illinois. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Illinois State are $13,968 a year. The average amount in student loans that geography majors at Illinois State take out is $19,017.

Illinois State excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 10% of all schools on our Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois list.

Read full report on Geography & Cartography at Illinois State University

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best geography and cartography schools in Illinois. SIUE is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Edwardsville.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SIUE are $11,496 per year. After completing their degree, geography graduates from SIUE carry an average student debtload of $21,900.

Read full report on Geography & Cartography at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

$17,634 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 14 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a very large student population.

UIUC undergraduate students pay an average of $17,634 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UIUC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois list.

Read More…

$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 14 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at WIU are $13,297 a year.

Read full report on Geography & Cartography at Western Illinois University

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Northern Illinois University is a great value for geography and cartography students. NIU is a fairly large public school located in the suburb of Dekalb.

NIU undergraduate students pay an average of $14,738 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, geography graduates from NIU take out $22,500 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read More…

#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL
$12,297 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #6, Eastern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for geography and cartography students. Located in the distant town of Charleston, EIU is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at EIU are $12,297 a year.

Read More…

$11,204 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #7, Chicago State University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for geography and cartography students. Located in the city of Chicago, CSU is a public school with a small student population.

CSU undergraduate students pay an average of $11,204 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Geography & Cartography at Chicago State University

$12,064 Average Tuition & Fees

With a ranking of #8, Northeastern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for geography and cartography students. Northeastern Illinois University is a medium-sized public school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Northeastern Illinois University are $12,064 per year.

Read More…

#9

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, IL
$39,400 Average Tuition & Fees

Elmhurst University came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the large suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Elmhurst undergraduate students pay an average of $39,400 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Elmhurst excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois list.

Read More…

#10

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL
$60,768 Average Tuition & Fees

Northwestern University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for geography and cartography students. It came in at #10 on the list. Located in the small city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northwestern are $60,768 a year.

Northwestern did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #1 on our Best Geography & Cartography Schools in Illinois list.

Full Geography & Cartography at Northwestern University Report

Best Value Geography & Cartography Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Geography & Cartography Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 138
Ohio 264
Indiana 82
Wisconsin 276

One of 12 majors within the area of study, geography and cartography has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Political Science & Government 49,282
Economics 49,055
Sociology 38,475
General Social Sciences 18,997
International Relations & National Security 14,306

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 14 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 Couleur.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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