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Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

14 Colleges
$25,991 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$38,297 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Social Sciences 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.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. This report analyzed 14 schools in Illinois to see which ones offered the best value programs for social sciences 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 Social Sciences Schools in Illinois

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Social Sciences Colleges.

Top 10 Best Social Sciences Schools

$13,968 Average Tuition & Fees

Our 2023 rankings named Illinois State University the best value school in Illinois for social sciences students. Illinois State is a very large public school located in the suburb of Normal.

Illinois State undergraduate students pay an average of $13,968 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Illinois State did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Social Sciences Schools in Illinois list.

Full Social Sciences at Illinois State University Report

$11,496 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best social sciences schools in Illinois. SIUE is a large public school located in the suburb of Edwardsville.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SIUE are $11,496 per year.

Full Social Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Report

$14,738 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 14 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Northern Illinois University landed the # 3 spot on the list. NIU is a fairly large public school located in the small suburb of Dekalb.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at NIU are $14,738 a year.

Read More…

$12,064 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northeastern Illinois University. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Illinois list. Northeastern Illinois University is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Northeastern Illinois University are $12,064 a year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Northeastern Illinois University

$13,297 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Western Illinois University. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Illinois list. Located in the remote town of Macomb, WIU is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at WIU are $13,297 per year.

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#6

Eastern Illinois University

Charleston, IL
$12,297 Average Tuition & Fees

Eastern Illinois University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for social sciences students. It came in at #6 on the list. Located in the distant town of Charleston, EIU is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at EIU are $12,297 per year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Eastern Illinois University

$17,634 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #7 on this year’s Best Value Social Sciences Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Champaign, UIUC is a public school with a fairly large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIUC are $17,634 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UIUC is ranked #3 for overall quality for social sciences in Illinois.

Read full report on Social Sciences at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

$15,240 Average Tuition & Fees

Southern Illinois University Carbondale landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value social sciences programs. SIUC is a large public school located in the small city of Carbondale.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at SIUC are $15,240 a year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale

$47,808 Average Tuition & Fees

Loyola University Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for social sciences students. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Loyola Chicago are $47,808 a year.

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$15,603 Average Tuition & Fees

University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value social sciences programs. UIC is a very large public school located in the large city of Chicago.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UIC are $15,603 a year.

Read full report on Social Sciences at University of Illinois at Chicago

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 14 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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