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Best Value Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

2023 Best Value Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

14 Colleges
$21,024 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$53,732 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences Master's Degree School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, social sciences was ranked 9th in Illinois. In fact, 5,866 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

It's not easy to decide which program to enroll in when you have so many options available. 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 Social Sciences Master's Degree 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 master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for social sciences students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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.

Top 10 Best Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for social sciences students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the midsize suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Illinois State are $9,773 per year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Illinois State is ranked #5 for overall quality for social sciences in Illinois.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at SIUE are $9,316 a year.

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Out of the 14 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the # 3 spot on the list. Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at NIU are $11,390 a year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northeastern Illinois University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large city of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

Northeastern Illinois University graduate students pay an average of $9,428 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Western Illinois University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. WIU is a medium-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.

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#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Eastern Illinois University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #6 on the list. EIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Charleston.

EIU graduate students pay an average of $10,640 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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With a ranking of #7, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign did quite well on this year’s best value schools for social sciences students working on their master’s degree. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIUC are $17,823 per year.

UIUC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

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

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at SIUC are $16,162 per year.

Full Social Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Report

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Loyola University Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for social sciences students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

Loyola Chicago graduate students pay an average of $19,894 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree social sciences programs. Located in the city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a fairly large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UIC are $17,277 per year.

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Best Value Social Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Social Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 2,941
Michigan 4,213
Ohio 4,915
Wisconsin 3,504

Social Sciences Majors to Study

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
Anthropology 11,415
Criminology 11,039
Geography & Cartography 8,526
Other Social Sciences 2,414
Urban Studies 1,507
Sociology & Anthropology 541
Archeology 339
Demography & Population Studies 88

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 327,871
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 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 AndrГ© KГјnzelmann.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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