Best Value Colleges in Illinois
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Illinois high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 44 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 0.6 years at the fastest to 21.4 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.1 years to repay its net price, 0.1 years faster than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (9) have a median payback of 2.0 years against 3.5 years for the 35 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
University of Chicago ranks first at 0.6 years, ahead of University of Illinois Chicago (1.2 years) and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (1.3 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Illinois
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Illinois has 44
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 44 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 0.6 years | $14,860 | $127,757 | $15,000 | 95% |
| 2 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 4-year | 1.2 years | $10,974 | $72,839 | $16,704 | 61% |
| 3 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 4-year | 1.3 years | $14,355 | $79,628 | $19,500 | 85% |
| 4 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.3 years | $18,425 | $91,312 | $25,000 | 74% |
| 5 | University of St Francis Joliet, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.3 years | $13,006 | $75,229 | $21,079 | 66% |
| 6 | Saint Xavier University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.4 years | $10,970 | $66,961 | $22,223 | 58% |
| 7 | University of Illinois Springfield Springfield, IL Public · 4-year | 1.4 years | $9,833 | $63,235 | $19,128 | 57% |
| 8 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 1.6 years | $29,167 | $109,275 | $15,000 | 96% |
| 9 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 4-year | 1.9 years | $13,391 | $64,583 | $22,162 | 49% |
| 10 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 4-year | 2.0 years | $14,889 | $65,199 | $20,500 | 56% |
| 11 | Dominican University River Forest, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.0 years | $11,745 | $59,507 | $24,411 | 59% |
| 12 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 4-year | 2.1 years | $13,297 | $61,484 | $21,543 | 59% |
| 13 | Concordia University-Chicago River Forest, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.1 years | $18,436 | $71,699 | $23,000 | 41% |
| 14 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.2 years | $17,028 | $66,586 | $21,500 | 65% |
| 15 | North Park University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.3 years | $16,948 | $65,399 | $25,500 | 57% |
| 16 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 4-year | 2.4 years | $12,937 | $57,453 | $25,251 | 45% |
| 17 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.4 years | $22,719 | $74,150 | $27,000 | 74% |
| 18 | Benedictine University Lisle, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.5 years | $22,313 | $72,460 | $22,500 | 51% |
| 19 | Aurora University Aurora, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $18,838 | $64,521 | $20,318 | 59% |
| 20 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 4-year | 2.9 years | $19,398 | $62,507 | $20,482 | 65% |
| 21 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 4-year | 2.9 years | $12,786 | $53,620 | $21,500 | 46% |
| 22 | Olivet Nazarene University Bourbonnais, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.9 years | $20,729 | $64,769 | $25,000 | 61% |
| 23 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.3 years | $30,902 | $73,466 | $23,168 | 69% |
| 24 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.3 years | $21,044 | $61,656 | $24,500 | 68% |
| 25 | Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $28,199 | $69,265 | $27,000 | 78% |
| 26 | Quincy University Quincy, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $20,359 | $59,724 | $24,000 | 44% |
| 27 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $24,185 | $63,784 | $20,489 | 68% |
| 28 | Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $19,125 | $57,170 | $25,009 | 61% |
| 29 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $22,736 | $60,377 | $27,000 | 76% |
| 30 | Judson University Elgin, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.7 years | $18,558 | $56,385 | $25,000 | 56% |
| 31 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.8 years | $36,079 | $73,865 | $24,157 | 75% |
| 32 | Rockford University Rockford, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.9 years | $22,436 | $59,145 | $22,274 | 43% |
| 33 | McKendree University Lebanon, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.0 years | $24,717 | $60,630 | $23,250 | 57% |
| 34 | Lake Forest College Lake Forest, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.3 years | $28,673 | $62,893 | $26,158 | 74% |
| 35 | Monmouth College Monmouth, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.5 years | $17,133 | $51,368 | $27,000 | 62% |
| 36 | Millikin University Decatur, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 4.9 years | $21,989 | $54,115 | $27,000 | 57% |
| 37 | Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.0 years | $26,975 | $57,675 | $23,250 | 86% |
| 38 | Illinois College Jacksonville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.0 years | $18,298 | $50,691 | $25,565 | 63% |
| 39 | Eureka College Eureka, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.1 years | $17,349 | $49,625 | $23,250 | 41% |
| 40 | Greenville University Greenville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 6.8 years | $19,533 | $47,578 | $23,875 | 46% |
| 41 | Knox College Galesburg, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 7.5 years | $24,595 | $49,217 | $27,000 | 68% |
| 42 | Moody Bible Institute Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.2 years | $22,221 | $46,905 | $18,149 | 62% |
| 43 | Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 9.7 years | $26,598 | $47,092 | $25,000 | 50% |
| 44 | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | 21.4 years | $49,790 | $45,385 | $27,000 | 65% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
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Same list in nearby states
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All 74 colleges in Illinois See the national version of this ranking