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Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

23 Colleges
$18,339 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$61,137 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Graduate Certificate School for You

Education is one of the most popular subjects to study in Illinois. With 6,636 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, it ranked 3rd out of all the majors we track in the state.

With all the programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 23 schools in Illinois to see which graduate certificate 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.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

In our regional and nationwide rankings, out-of-state tution and fees are used in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Colleges.

Top 10 Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools

Our analysis found Illinois State University to be the best value school for education students who want to pursue a graduate certificate in Illinois. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the midsize suburb of Normal.

Illinois State graduate students pay an average of $9,773 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at Illinois State University

#2

Concordia University, Chicago

River Forest, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Concordia University, Chicago. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Concordia University, Chicago is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of River Forest.

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

Read More…

#3

Olivet Nazarene University

Bourbonnais, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Olivet Nazarene University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the suburb of Bourbonnais, Olivet Nazarene is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Olivet Nazarene are $12,190 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Olivet Nazarene is ranked #4 for overall quality for education in Illinois.

Read More…

#4

Governors State University

University Park, IL

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Governors State University. It ranked #4 on our 2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the rural area of University Park, GSU is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at GSU are $8,320 a year.

Read full report on Education at Governors State University

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St Francis. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. University of Saint Francis is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Joliet.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at University of Saint Francis are $13,839 a year.

University of Saint Francis also made our Best Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #3.

Read full report on Education at University of St Francis

#6

McKendree University

Lebanon, IL

McKendree University came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. McKendree is a small private not-for-profit school located in the suburb of Lebanon.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at McKendree are $9,756 a year.

Full Education at McKendree University Report

#7

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL

Eastern Illinois University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Located in the town of Charleston, EIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at EIU are $10,640 a year.

Full Education at Eastern Illinois University Report

With a ranking of #8, National Louis University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their graduate certificate. NLU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Chicago.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at NLU are $12,096 per year.

Full Education at National Louis University Report

University of Illinois at Springfield came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. UIS is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Springfield.

UIS graduate students pay an average of $11,111 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

Western Illinois University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate education programs. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

WIU graduate students pay an average of $12,182 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at Western Illinois University

Best Value Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 8,353
Ohio 3,830
Wisconsin 2,679
Michigan 2,978

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Educational Administration 45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific 34,451
Special Education 25,158
General Education 21,189
Teacher Education Subject Specific 20,616
Curriculum & Instruction 19,784
Student Counseling 13,840
Instructional Media Design 8,387
Teaching English or French 4,743
Other Education 2,513
Multilingual Education 1,672
Educational Assessment 1,215
Education Philosophy 421
International Education 257
Teaching Assistants 20

Majors Similar to Education

Related Major Annual Graduates
Psychology 42,013
Social Sciences 22,292
Communication & Journalism 12,242
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 23 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 Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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