2023 Best Master's Degree Schools in Illinois
When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Also there are many trade schools and bpptcamp that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Grad Degree Search has created the Best Master's Degree Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 34 schools in Illinois to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Master's Degree Schools in Illinois
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found Northwestern University to be the best school for students who want to pursue a master’s degree in Illinois.
Online graduate courses are available at Northwestern, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 2% took at least some of their classes online.
The excellent master’s degree programs at University of Chicago helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in Illinois.
Out of the 34 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the # 3 spot on the list.
UIUC does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 90% took at least some of their classes online.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of St Francis. The school came in at #4 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at University of Saint Francis. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 89% took at least some of their classes online.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Illinois State University is a great place for students working on their master’s degree.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Illinois State. In fact, around 81% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #6, Olivet Nazarene University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Olivet Nazarene does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 97% took at least some of their classes online.
With a ranking of #7, Aurora University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Aurora does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 87% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Bradley University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Bradley. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 95% took at least some of their classes online.
With a ranking of #9, Illinois Institute of Technology did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Illinois Tech does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In fact, around 42% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Loyola University Chicago did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #10 on the list.
Loyola Chicago does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In fact, around 92% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
North Central College landed the #11 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
One thing to take note of is that North Central does offer online graduate classes in some areas. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 70% took at least some of their classes online.
Dominican University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #12 on the list.
Dominican U does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. During the 2019-2020 year, about 89% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
With a ranking of #13, Lewis University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Lewis does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 85% took at least some of their classes online.
Elmhurst University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Elmhurst. During the 2019-2020 year, about 64% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
DePaul University came in at #15 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at DePaul. In 2019-2020 about 96% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
Concordia University, Chicago ranked #16 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Concordia University, Chicago. In fact, around 98% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #17, University of Illinois at Chicago did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at UIC. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 95% took at least some of their classes online.
With a ranking of #18, Benedictine University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at Benedictine U. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 100% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Eastern Illinois University ranked #19 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
EIU does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 75% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #20, Northern Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at NIU. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 43% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Western Illinois University ranked #21 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since WIU does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 71% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #22, Southern Illinois University Carbondale did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at SIUC. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 24% took at least some of their classes online.
National Louis University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in Illinois ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at NLU. In fact, around 59% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Roosevelt University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list.
Roosevelt does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. In 2019-2020 about 44% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #25, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
SIUE does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. During the 2019-2020 year, about 86% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Read full report on Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
View Best Master’s Degree Schools Nationwide >
Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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