2023 Best Master's Degree Schools in Illinois
There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Also, there are a number of trade schools and bootcamp 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 Master's Degree Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 34 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. Factors related to overall quality of the school, post-graduation earnings, average student debt, and more accumulated were considered when coming up with this list.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Master's Degree Schools in Illinois
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named Northwestern University the best school in Illinois for students working on their master’s degree.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Northwestern. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 2% took at least some of their classes online.
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of Chicago is a great place for students working on their master’s degree.
The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Illinois.
UIUC does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In fact, around 90% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St Francis. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at University of Saint Francis. In 2019-2020 about 89% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Illinois State University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
Illinois State does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In 2019-2020 about 81% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Olivet Nazarene University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Olivet Nazarene. In fact, around 97% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Aurora University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #7 on the list.
One thing to take note of is that Aurora does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 87% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Bradley University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #8 on the list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Bradley. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 95% took at least some of their classes online.
Illinois Institute of Technology ranked #9 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Illinois Tech does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2019-2020 about 42% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #10, Loyola University Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Loyola Chicago. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 92% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
North Central College ranked #11 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
North Central does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In fact, around 70% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Dominican University landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
Dominican U does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. During the 2019-2020 year, about 89% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Lewis University came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
Lewis does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 85% took at least some of their classes online.
Elmhurst University landed the #14 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Elmhurst. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 64% took at least some of their classes online.
DePaul University ranked #15 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since DePaul does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 96% took at least some of their classes online.
Concordia University, Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #16 on the list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Concordia University, Chicago. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 98% took at least some of their classes online.
University of Illinois at Chicago came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UIC. In 2019-2020 about 95% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Benedictine University came in at #18 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
One thing to take note of is that Benedictine U does offer online graduate classes in some areas. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 100% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Eastern Illinois University came in at #19 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since EIU does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 75% took at least some of their classes online.
Northern Illinois University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at NIU. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 43% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Western Illinois University came in at #21 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since WIU does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. In 2019-2020 about 71% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale ranked #22 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since SIUC does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 24% took at least some of their classes online.
National Louis University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #23 on the list.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at NLU. In 2019-2020 about 59% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Roosevelt University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Roosevelt does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. During the 2019-2020 year, about 44% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #25 on the list.
SIUE does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. During the 2019-2020 year, about 86% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
View Best Master’s Degree Schools Nationwide >
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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