Colleges in Illinois With the Highest Graduate Earnings
Median earnings four years after graduation at the 50 four-year colleges we rank in Illinois run from $127,757 at the top to $45,385 at the bottom, a spread of $82,372.
The median college sits at $62,082, which is $2,679 (5%) above the national median of $59,403. Private nonprofit colleges (37) have a median of $61,656 and public colleges (12) a median of $61,996, and the typical net price across the list is $18,982.
University of Chicago ranks first at $127,757, ahead of Northwestern University ($109,275) and Chamberlain University-Illinois ($97,262).
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- All 4-year colleges (public, private nonprofit and for-profit)
- Ranked by earnings after 4 years, highest 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)
- A reported earnings after 4 years value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Illinois has 50
- Data period
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- 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.
- Enrollment: undergraduate students, fall 2024.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 50 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $127,757 | $14,860 | $15,000 | 95% | 7,569 |
| 2 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $109,275 | $29,167 | $15,000 | 96% | 9,201 |
| 3 | Chamberlain University-Illinois Addison, IL For-profit · 4-year | $97,262 | $31,837 | $20,919 | 45% | 14,027 |
| 4 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $91,312 | $18,425 | $25,000 | 74% | 2,833 |
| 5 | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 4-year | $79,628 | $14,355 | $19,500 | 85% | 36,258 |
| 6 | University of St Francis Joliet, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $75,229 | $13,006 | $21,079 | 66% | 1,223 |
| 7 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $74,150 | $22,719 | $27,000 | 74% | 3,574 |
| 8 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $73,865 | $36,079 | $24,157 | 75% | 11,737 |
| 9 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $73,466 | $30,902 | $23,168 | 69% | 14,090 |
| 10 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 4-year | $72,839 | $10,974 | $16,704 | 61% | 22,170 |
| 11 | Benedictine University Lisle, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $72,460 | $22,313 | $22,500 | 51% | 1,942 |
| 12 | Concordia University-Chicago River Forest, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $71,699 | $18,436 | $23,000 | 41% | 1,323 |
| 13 | Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $69,265 | $28,199 | $27,000 | 78% | 1,582 |
| 14 | Saint Xavier University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $66,961 | $10,970 | $22,223 | 58% | 3,096 |
| 15 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $66,586 | $17,028 | $21,500 | 65% | 4,015 |
| 16 | North Park University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $65,399 | $16,948 | $25,500 | 57% | 1,818 |
| 17 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 4-year | $65,199 | $14,889 | $20,500 | 56% | 8,750 |
| 18 | Olivet Nazarene University Bourbonnais, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,769 | $20,729 | $25,000 | 61% | 2,603 |
| 19 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 4-year | $64,583 | $13,391 | $22,162 | 49% | 11,301 |
| 20 | Aurora University Aurora, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $64,521 | $18,838 | $20,318 | 59% | 3,974 |
| 21 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,784 | $24,185 | $20,489 | 68% | 3,006 |
| 22 | University of Illinois Springfield Springfield, IL Public · 4-year | $63,235 | $9,833 | $19,128 | 57% | 2,263 |
| 23 | National Louis University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $63,065 | $12,641 | $19,750 | 33% | 4,406 |
| 24 | Lake Forest College Lake Forest, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $62,893 | $28,673 | $26,158 | 74% | 1,813 |
| 25 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 4-year | $62,507 | $19,398 | $20,482 | 65% | 19,057 |
| 26 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $61,656 | $21,044 | $24,500 | 68% | 2,428 |
| 27 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 4-year | $61,484 | $13,297 | $21,543 | 59% | 8,494 |
| 28 | McKendree University Lebanon, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $60,630 | $24,717 | $23,250 | 57% | 1,752 |
| 29 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 4-year | $60,607 | $14,109 | $14,600 | 18% | 3,982 |
| 30 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $60,377 | $22,736 | $27,000 | 76% | 2,490 |
| 31 | Quincy University Quincy, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $59,724 | $20,359 | $24,000 | 44% | 1,010 |
| 32 | Dominican University River Forest, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $59,507 | $11,745 | $24,411 | 59% | 2,561 |
| 33 | Rockford University Rockford, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $59,145 | $22,436 | $22,274 | 43% | 972 |
| 34 | Roosevelt University Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $58,796 | $20,194 | $22,000 | 38% | 2,849 |
| 35 | Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $57,675 | $26,975 | $23,250 | 86% | 2,121 |
| 36 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 4-year | $57,453 | $12,937 | $25,251 | 45% | 4,410 |
| 37 | Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $57,170 | $19,125 | $25,009 | 61% | 820 |
| 38 | Chicago State University Chicago, IL Public · 4-year | $56,486 | $12,335 | $30,625 | 16% | 1,384 |
| 39 | Governors State University University Park, IL Public · 4-year | $56,405 | $12,329 | $18,618 | 21% | 2,556 |
| 40 | Judson University Elgin, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $56,385 | $18,558 | $25,000 | 56% | 708 |
| 41 | Millikin University Decatur, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $54,115 | $21,989 | $27,000 | 57% | 1,382 |
| 42 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 4-year | $53,620 | $12,786 | $21,500 | 46% | 4,188 |
| 43 | Monmouth College Monmouth, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $51,368 | $17,133 | $27,000 | 62% | 702 |
| 44 | Illinois College Jacksonville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $50,691 | $18,298 | $25,565 | 63% | 930 |
| 45 | Eureka College Eureka, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $49,625 | $17,349 | $23,250 | 41% | 522 |
| 46 | Knox College Galesburg, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $49,217 | $24,595 | $27,000 | 68% | 1,127 |
| 47 | Greenville University Greenville, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $47,578 | $19,533 | $23,875 | 46% | 955 |
| 48 | Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $47,092 | $26,598 | $25,000 | 50% | 5,368 |
| 49 | Moody Bible Institute Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $46,905 | $22,221 | $18,149 | 62% | 1,510 |
| 50 | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL Private nonprofit · 4-year | $45,385 | $49,790 | $27,000 | 65% | 2,805 |
How to compare these colleges
High earnings partly reflect who enrolls and what they study: engineering, nursing and business programs usually pay more than education or the arts, so a school with strong health or technical programs can top the list. Read the earnings next to net price, debt and graduation rate, because earnings count only people who finished, and four years after graduation is early in a career.
Guides worth reading first
More lists for Illinois
Cheapest colleges in Illinois
50 schools
Cheap colleges in Illinois for out-of-state students
23 schools
Community colleges in Illinois
11 schools
Best value colleges in Illinois
44 schools
Most affordable private colleges in Illinois
37 schools
Same list in nearby states
Highest graduate earnings in Indiana
39 schools
Highest graduate earnings in Missouri
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Highest graduate earnings in Wisconsin
31 schools
All 74 colleges in Illinois See the national version of this ranking