Best Christian Colleges in Illinois 2024

Published: Mar 23, 2021
Updated: Oct 26, 2023

For prospective college students looking for schools that align with their Christian faith and demonstrate academic excellence, here are the best Christian colleges and universities in Illinois.

10 Best Christian Colleges in Illinois

Loyola University Chicago
DePaul University
Wheaton College
Augustana College
Elmhurst University
Eureka College
Illinois College
Monmouth College
North Central College
Trinity International University

Trinity International University 91%
Concordia University Chicago 88%
Eureka College 87%
Wheaton College 86%
Saint Xavier University 85%
Dominican University 81%
Benedictine University 80%
Greenville University 80%
McKendree University 78%
Loyola University Chicago 77%

DePaul University 17 to 1
Saint Xavier University 16 to 1
Quincy University 15 to 1
Lewis University 14 to 1
Loyola University Chicago 14 to 1
McKendree University 14 to 1
Olivet Nazarene University 14 to 1
Elmhurst University 13 to 1
North Central College 13 to 1
Illinois College 13 to 1

Loyola University Chicago $47,808
Augustana College $46,189
North Central College $42,206
DePaul University $42,012
Monmouth College $41,390
Wheaton College $40,820
Elmhurst University $39,400
Olivet Nazarene University $37,440
Dominican University $35,570
Lewis University $35,472

Augustana College $33,000
Elmhurst University $32,500
Dominican University $19,943
Loyola University Chicago $18,990
Benedictine University $18,530
Wheaton College $18,096
DePaul University $17,951
Trinity International University $17,280
North Central College $15,822
Judson University $15,814

Greenville University
Blackburn College
Judson University
Trinity Christian College
Concordia University Chicago
University of St. Francis
Dominican University
Olivet Nazarene University
Lewis University
Saint Xavier University

Quincy University 60%
Olivet Nazarene University 61%
Judson University 62%
Blackburn College 66%
Monmouth College 66%
North Park University 67%
University of St. Francis 68%
North Central College 68%
Augustana College 69%
DePaul University 69%

Trinity International University 8 to 1
Monmouth College 9 to 1
Greenville University 10 to 1
North Park University 10 to 1
Trinity Christian College 10 to 1
Judson University 10 to 1
Dominican University 10 to 1
Wheaton College 10 to 1
Eureka College 11 to 1
Blackburn College 11 to 1

Blackburn College $25,570
Eureka College $28,360
Greenville University $29,810
Judson University $29,870
Quincy University $31,160
North Park University $33,050
McKendree University $33,050
Trinity International University $33,298
Trinity Christian College $33,325
Benedictine University $34,290

Greenville University $8,568
Illinois College $9,000
Concordia University Chicago $9,090
McKendree University $9,756
Trinity Christian College $10,458
Quincy University $12,000
Olivet Nazarene University $12,190
University of St. Francis $13,464
North Park University $14,004
Lewis University $14,760

Table of Contents

Colleges and Universities in Illinois

Prospective students searching for colleges in Illinois have plenty of excellent schools to choose from. Illinois offers over 130 higher education institutes throughout the state. Thanks to an expansive public university system and several top private institutions, students can select from an extremely wide array of brick-and-mortar and online colleges in Illinois.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois at Chicago, the state’s two largest public universities in Illinois. Students can access a full spectrum of undergraduate and graduate degrees for in-state tuition rates of $13,000 to $15,000 respectively. Both public universities also offer a full selection of online degree programs.

It’s also worth noting that Illinois residents who pursue online degrees at public colleges in Illinois will qualify for in-state tuition rates. Out of state students will generally pay more whether pursuing on-campus or online degrees.

Find college admissions consultants in your state.

More than half of the colleges in Illinois are actually private schools. Among these private colleges and universities, the most notable are DePaul University, Northwestern University, and Loyola University Chicago. Tuition from these three private schools can be costly, ranging from $44,000 to $55,000. However, each of these private schools boasts a high graduation rate and excellent professors.

Illinois is also home to many small private schools, including Benedictine University and National Louis University.

Popular disciplines in Illinois include disciplines like criminal justice, social work, nursing, education, religious studies, communications, and medicine. Both traditional and online students have a wide range of options in each of these subject areas.

Degree completion programs are also widely available for lapsed students who have already accumulated some college credits. This is an especially popular online degree option among working professionals in Illinois.

Additionally, Illinois offers several loan forgiveness-based financial aid programs for qualifying students pursuing careers as teachers, public defenders or prosecutors, or nurses.

From the skyscrapers in Chicago to the vast prairie lands in the north, Illinois is a place where city meets country. Students can grab a Chicago-style hotdog on the way to a Cubs game, explore the ancient sandstone cliffs in the Shawnee National Forest, or admire an exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago, all while attending one of The Prairie State’s universities or colleges.

The higher education institutes in Illinois have also produced many prominent alumni, including Stephen Colbert, Phillip Glass, and Kurt Vonnegut. Students hoping to walk the same streets as these well-known individuals can check out some of the state’s top programs and universities.

What are Illinois’s Colleges & Universities?

Illinois’s Best Overall

The following list of the best Christian schools consists entirely of colleges and universities that offer four-year undergraduate degrees. We’ve identified 24 Christian colleges in Illinois. In order to be included in this ranking list of best Christian colleges and universities, a school must self-identify as Christian, be fully accredited, and offer a broad range of bachelor degree programs.

How do we determine Illinois's best Christian colleges and universities?

Methodology

The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great! If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence in their fields of study.

Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is freer from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.

To rank the influence of schools, we first determine the influence of scholars and professionals based on the number of citations and publications they have had over the past 10 years. In addition to publications and citations, we consider the web links to and from these sources, and the page views of those sources. We then match the influential people to their alma maters and institutions of employment, so that their influence is attributed to those schools. Our machine-learning Influence Ranking algorithm produces a numerical score of academic achievements, merits, and citations across Wikipedia, wikidata, Crossref, Semantic Scholar and an ever-growing body of data. If you are interested in exploring how and why we rank by influence, explore our methodology in more depth.

Best Christian Colleges in Illinois 2023

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Illinois’s Best Christian Colleges in Your Area of Interest

2021 Ranking Archive

Many of our 2022 undergraduate focused rankings look considerably different than 2021. That’s because we took a fundamentally different apporach. For 2021 we utilized our Concentrated Influence algorithm, designed to take away the size advantage larger schools have when we rank their faculty and alumni’s academic influence. Concentrated influence highlights smaller schools that are proportionally as successful as larger universities at cultivating influential alumni and faculty.

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Best Christian Colleges in Illinois 2024

10 Best Christian Colleges in Illinois

Colleges and Universities in Illinois

What are Illinois’s Colleges & Universities?

Best Christian Colleges in Illinois 2023

Most Influential Alumni

Loyola University Chicago’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

DePaul University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

Benedictine University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

McKendree University’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

Saint Xavier University’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

Trinity International University’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

Illinois College’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Most Influential Alumni

Lewis University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Most Influential Alumni

Olivet Nazarene University’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

North Park University’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

Quincy University’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

Elmhurst University’s Online Degrees

Degree Concentrations

Degree Concentrations

Most Influential Alumni

Concordia University Chicago’s Online Degrees

University of St. Francis’s Online Degrees

Most Influential Alumni

Most Influential Alumni

Greenville University’s Online Degrees

Illinois’s Best Christian Colleges in Your Area of Interest

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