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Best Value Social Sciences Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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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.

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

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Social Sciences Master's Degree Colleges.

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 medium-sized suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public school with a very large student population.

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

Illinois State also took the #5 spot in our Best Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Social Sciences at Illinois State University Report

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 large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public school with a large student population.

SIUE graduate students pay an average of $9,316 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

The excellent master’s degree programs at Northern Illinois University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value social sciences schools in Illinois. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

Read full report on Social Sciences at Northern Illinois University

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Northeastern Illinois University is a great value for social sciences students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Northeastern Illinois University are $9,428 per year.

Full Social Sciences at Northeastern Illinois University Report

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Western Illinois University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the town of Macomb.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at WIU are $12,182 per year.

Full Social Sciences at Western Illinois University Report

#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Eastern Illinois University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. EIU is a medium-sized public school located in the town of Charleston.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at EIU are $10,640 per year.

Full Social Sciences at Eastern Illinois University Report

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 very large public school located in the small city of Champaign.

UIUC graduate students pay an average of $17,823 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UIUC also made our Best Social Sciences Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #3.

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Southern Illinois University Carbondale 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 #8 on the list. Located in the city of Carbondale, SIUC is a public school with a large student population.

SIUC graduate students pay an average of $16,162 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Social Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale Report

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.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Loyola Chicago are $19,894 per year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Loyola University Chicago

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 large city of Chicago, UIC is a public college with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UIC are $17,277 a year.

Read More…

Best Value Social Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Social Sciences Schools 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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