Ranked, compared, and filtered by real data: costs, outcomes, and admissions
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign runs one of the best computer science and engineering programs in the country, regularly attracting students who might otherwise choose an Ivy or a high-cost private alternative.
Northwestern's research output and the University of Chicago's intellectual culture give the state's private sector genuine depth, while the City Colleges of Chicago and Illinois's extensive community college network provide access to higher education in a city where first-generation students are the majority.
By Ownership
By Type
See how Illinois's colleges compare to the national average on the four measures most students and families weigh when deciding where to go: cost, acceptance rates, graduate earnings, and graduation rates.
The colleges in Illinois that rank highest by UCD Score, and those that deliver above-national graduate earnings at a below-average net price, two of the strongest signals when choosing a school.
Not every student is looking for the same thing. These six panels rank Illinois's colleges by the data that matters most for each path.
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by annual graduates
Ranked by net price
Ranked by enrollment
Ranked by grad earnings
Which colleges give you the most for what you spend? These eight schools rank highest in Illinois by the ratio of 10-year graduate earnings to annual net price.
| # | College | Net Price / yr | Earnings (10yr) | Ratio | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joliet Junior College Joliet | $1,672 | $42,889 | 25.7× | Excellent |
| 2 | Illinois Valley Community College Oglesby | $2,232 | $40,810 | 18.3× | Excellent |
| 3 | Lake Land College Mattoon | $2,254 | $38,877 | 17.3× | Excellent |
| 4 | Trinity International University-Illinois Deerfield | $2,835 | $46,989 | 16.6× | Excellent |
| 5 | Moraine Valley Community College Palos Hills | $2,829 | $43,892 | 15.5× | Excellent |
| 6 | Lewis and Clark Community College Godfrey | $3,349 | $37,724 | 11.3× | Excellent |
| 7 | Spoon River College Canton | $3,415 | $38,386 | 11.2× | Excellent |
| 8 | South Suburban College South Holland | $3,242 | $33,680 | 10.4× | Excellent |
ROI Ratio = median earnings 10 years after enrollment ÷ annual net price. Higher is better.
The six fields of study with the most annual graduates across all colleges in Illinois, based on IPEDS completion data.
The specific degree programs producing the most graduates across Illinois's colleges. A more granular view than the Popular Majors above, useful when you already know roughly what you want to study and want to see where the volume is.
Careers with a strong employment footprint in Illinois. What graduates from local colleges actually go on to do. State-level employment is shown where the BLS publishes it; national wage + growth shown alongside.
The cities in Illinois with the most colleges, ranked by number of institutions.
Utah crowds 14,137 students into each of its colleges, four times the national norm. These are the states where college options are scarcest per student.
There are 170 colleges that operate a medical school, and they cluster hard. Texas leads with 14, three states hold a fifth of them, and four states have none.
Northeast college graduates earn about $12,700 more a decade out than Southern ones, but they also pay thousands more to get there. The regional split, by the numbers.
Browse our full directory: every college, major, program, and career we track, all built from verified government data.
Scout uses AI and can make mistakes. Verify important numbers on the page.
