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Best Value General Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value General Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

9 Colleges
$20,992 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$50,291 Avg Salary

Finding the Best General Education Master's Degree School for You

General Education is the #36 most popular major in Illinois with 363 degrees and certificates awarded in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

The Best Value General Education Master's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking is one of many tools that Grad Degree Search has developed to help you make your educational decision. Our analysis looked at 9 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree programs offered the best value experiences for education students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value General Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Value General Education Master's Degree Colleges.

Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality for a Master's in General Education

#1

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

Our analysis found McKendree University to be the best value school for general education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois. Located in the suburb of Lebanon, McKendree is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at McKendree are $9,756 per year.

Read full report on General Education at McKendree University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value General Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. UIUC is a fairly large public school located in the city of Champaign.

UIUC graduate students pay an average of $17,823 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UIUC not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #3 on our Best General Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.

Full General Education at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Report

#3

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Concordia University, Chicago. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value General Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.

Concordia University, Chicago graduate students pay an average of $9,378 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full General Education at Concordia University, Chicago Report

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means Western Illinois University is a great value for general education students working on their master’s degree. WIU is a moderately-sized public school located in the remote town of Macomb.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at WIU are $12,182 per year.

Read full report on General Education at Western Illinois University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northern Illinois University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value General Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the small suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public college with a large student population.

NIU graduate students pay an average of $11,390 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#6

North Park University

Chicago, IL

North Park University ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value General Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. North Park is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at North Park are $14,184 per year.

Read full report on General Education at North Park University

#7

Rockford University

Rockford, IL

Rockford University landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree general education programs. Rockford is a small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Rockford.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Rockford are $13,615 per year.

Read full report on General Education at Rockford University

#8

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, IL

Elmhurst University ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value General Education Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list. Elmhurst is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Elmhurst.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Elmhurst are $32,800 a year.

Read More…

#9

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL

Northwestern University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree general education programs. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Northwestern are $56,567 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Northwestern is ranked #1 for overall quality for education in Illinois.

Read full report on General Education at Northwestern University

Best Value General Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value General Education Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 335
Ohio 434
Indiana 247
Wisconsin 261

One of 14 majors within the area of study, general education has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Educational Administration 45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific 34,451
Special Education 25,158
Teacher Education Subject Specific 20,616
Curriculum & Instruction 19,784

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 9 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to KOKUYO.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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