Best Public Colleges in Illinois 2023

Best Public Colleges in Illinois 2023

By James Barham

Published: Mar 23, 2021
Updated: Mar 13, 2023

Public colleges and universities account for almost 75 percent of all undergraduate students in the U.S. The best public colleges in Illinois provide broad access to reputable degree programs, affordable tuition, and sprawling educational communities.

10 Best Public Colleges in Illinois

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

68%

University of Illinois Chicago

55%

Northern Illinois University

46%

Illinois State University

43%

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

43%

Chicago State University

35%

Western Illinois University

33%

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

33%

Eastern Illinois University

31%

University of Illinois Springfield

29%

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

98%

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

95%

Illinois State University

92%

University of Illinois Chicago

79%

University of Illinois Springfield

79%

Western Illinois University

72%

Eastern Illinois University

72%

Northern Illinois University

70%

Northeastern Illinois University

62%

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

60%

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

20 to 1

Illinois State University

19 to 1

University of Illinois Chicago

18 to 1

Northern Illinois University

16 to 1

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

16 to 1

Eastern Illinois University

14 to 1

Western Illinois University

13 to 1

University of Illinois Springfield

12 to 1

Northeastern Illinois University

12 to 1

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

11 to 1

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

$15,240

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

$14,446

Western Illinois University

$13,669

Northern Illinois University

$12,478

University of Illinois Chicago

$12,253

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

$12,219

Illinois State University

$10,932

Northeastern Illinois University

$10,091

University of Illinois Springfield

$9,645

Eastern Illinois University

$9,207

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

$14,635

University of Illinois Chicago

$13,927

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

$11,268

Northern Illinois University

$8,942

University of Illinois Springfield

$8,375

Western Illinois University

$8,319

Northeastern Illinois University

$7,947

Illinois State University

$7,805

Eastern Illinois University

$7,691

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

$7,146

Governors State University

25%

Northeastern Illinois University

28%

University of Illinois Springfield

29%

Eastern Illinois University

31%

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

33%

Western Illinois University

33%

Chicago State University

35%

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

43%

Illinois State University

43%

Northern Illinois University

46%

Chicago State University

47%

Governors State University

52%

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

60%

Northeastern Illinois University

62%

Northern Illinois University

70%

Eastern Illinois University

72%

Western Illinois University

72%

University of Illinois Springfield

79%

University of Illinois Chicago

79%

Illinois State University

92%

Chicago State University

9 to 1

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

11 to 1

Governors State University

11 to 1

University of Illinois Springfield

12 to 1

Northeastern Illinois University

12 to 1

Western Illinois University

13 to 1

Eastern Illinois University

14 to 1

Northern Illinois University

16 to 1

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

16 to 1

University of Illinois Chicago

18 to 1

Chicago State University

$7,488

Governors State University

$7,512

Eastern Illinois University

$9,207

University of Illinois Springfield

$9,645

Northeastern Illinois University

$10,091

Illinois State University

$10,932

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

$12,219

University of Illinois Chicago

$12,253

Northern Illinois University

$12,478

Western Illinois University

$13,669

Chicago State University

$5,850

Governors State University

$6,354

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

$7,146

Eastern Illinois University

$7,691

Illinois State University

$7,805

Northeastern Illinois University

$7,947

Western Illinois University

$8,319

University of Illinois Springfield

$8,375

Northern Illinois University

$8,942

Southern Illinois University Carbondale

$11,268

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

What is the difference between public and private colleges?

Public and private colleges and universities operate under different business models. Public colleges and universities are owned by the state and receive both state and federal funding to operate. Private colleges and universities are private companies with private funding. If you’re looking at the pros and cons of private vs. public colleges, consider that many public colleges provide diverse course offerings, influential professors, and an excellent return on your investment.

Public colleges are schools that receive most of their funding from tax revenues. As a result, the cost of a bachelor’s degree at a public university is often lower than the equivalent cost at a private college — especially for students attending a public school in their home state. Attending a college in-state is usually the cheapest option. Private universities and colleges can be very competitive with their funding opportunities, so do not simply believe that private colleges are always going to be more expensive. According to National Center for Educational Statistics, the average annual cost (tuition, fees, room and board for full-time students) at a public university was slightly over $20,000. In contrast, private universities cost, on average, nearly $43,000 annually. But in the end, the cost of college comes down to each student’s academic and financial situation.

Illinois's Best Public Colleges Badge — Download Badge

This list is composed entirely of public colleges and universities that offer bachelor’s degrees. We’ve identified 12 public universities in Illinois. To be included in our list of the best public colleges in Illinois, shcools must receive direct funding from the state, be fully accredited, and offer a broad range of bachelor’s degress.

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

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 Public Colleges in Illinois 2022

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Illinois’s Best Public College 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.

Check out our directory of public colleges throughout the U.S. for a look at the top public colleges in every state.