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Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

6 Colleges
$38,550 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$27,957 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Liberal Arts General Studies School for You

In 2020-2021, 290 degrees and certificates were awarded to liberal arts general studies students who went to a Illinois college or university. This makes it the #43 most popular major in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right 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.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Schools in Illinois ranking. This report analyzed 6 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value programs for liberal arts students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Colleges.

Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality in Liberal Arts General Studies

$12,053 Average Tuition & Fees

Our analysis found University of Illinois at Springfield to be the best value school for liberal arts general studies students who want to pursue a degree in Illinois. UIS is a small public school located in the midsize city of Springfield.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIS are $12,053 a year.

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$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Western Illinois University is a great value for liberal arts general studies students. Located in the town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

WIU undergraduate students pay an average of $13,297 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Liberal Arts General Studies at Western Illinois University Report

#3

DePaul University

Chicago, IL
$42,012 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means DePaul University is a great value for liberal arts general studies students. Located in the large city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at DePaul are $42,012 a year.

Full Liberal Arts General Studies at DePaul University Report

#4

North Central College

Naperville, IL
$42,206 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at North Central College helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best liberal arts general studies schools in Illinois. North Central is a small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Naperville.

North Central undergraduate students pay an average of $42,206 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Liberal Arts General Studies at North Central College Report

#5

Northwestern University

Evanston, IL
$60,768 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Northwestern University. It ranked #5 on our 2023 Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Evanston, Northwestern is a private not-for-profit college with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northwestern are $60,768 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 liberal arts in Illinois.

Full Liberal Arts General Studies at Northwestern University Report

#6

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL
$60,963 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for liberal arts general studies students. It came in at #6 on the list. UChicago is a large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

UChicago undergraduate students pay an average of $60,963 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UChicago also took the #2 spot in our Best Liberal Arts General Studies Schools in Illinois rankings.

Full Liberal Arts General Studies at University of Chicago Report

Best Value Liberal Arts General Studies Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 13
Ohio 62
Indiana 19
Wisconsin 4

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 6 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).

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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