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Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

3 Colleges
$36,306 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$51,829 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate School for You

With 1,111 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021, social sciences is the #11 most popular major in Illinois.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois ranking. Our analysis looked at 3 schools in Illinois to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for social sciences students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for social sciences majors pursuing a graduate certificate.

Best Illinois Schools for Affordable Quality for a Postbaccalaureate Certificates in Social Sciences

Our 2023 rankings named Western Illinois University the best value school in Illinois for social sciences students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public college with a medium-sized student population.

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

Read full report on Social Sciences at Western Illinois University

#2

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Elmhurst University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Elmhurst, Elmhurst is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Elmhurst are $32,800 per year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Elmhurst University

#3

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of Chicago. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list. UChicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UChicago are $63,936 a year.

UChicago also made our Best Social Sciences Graduate Certificate Schools in Illinois list, coming in at #2.

Full Social Sciences at University of Chicago Report

Best Value Social Sciences Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Indiana 290
Ohio 575
Wisconsin 518
Michigan 441

Social Sciences Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Economics 6,173
International Relations & National Security 5,010
Political Science & Government 2,664
Geography & Cartography 2,315
Sociology 1,907
Anthropology 1,446
Criminology 936
General Social Sciences 745
Other Social Sciences 532
Urban Studies 432
Archeology 66
Demography & Population Studies 66

Related Major Annual Graduates
Education 199,724
Psychology 42,013
Communication & Journalism 12,242
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 3 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 AndrГ© KГјnzelmann.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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