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Illinois Colleges

Find the perfect Illinois college for your budget, lifestyle, and career goals. CollegeStats helps you compare Illinois colleges offering a variety of online and on-campus degree programs.

Find the Best Colleges in Illinois

Nicknamed the “Prairie State,” Illinois is a state with a diverse population, both in and outside of campus. It is a great location to study because it allows students to interact in both a metropolitan and suburban setting. Additionally, Illinois is well known for many great landmarks and cities filled with rich history.

The University of Chicago is ranked as one of the world’s top 10 universities, while the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranks among the best colleges to study engineering. Whatever your career goal is, Florida has a multitude of community colleges, public and private four-year and graduate institutions, as well as small liberal arts schools for you to choose from.

Compare the choices with our college search tool. You can sort the list of Illinois colleges according to price, admission rate and other college statistics.

How Do Illinois Colleges and Universities Compare?

Our college search tool makes it easy to compare Illinois colleges by tuition, online and offline degree programs, and many other college stats. Here’s an overview to help with your search.
Community colleges: Two-year associate degrees are available through 39 community colleges in the Illinois Community College System.

  • Public four-year and graduate institutions: Illinois has numerous public institutions to choose from. Some notable ones include Chicago State University, Illinois State University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. These schools offer education in versatile fields such as business, healthcare, and education.
  • Private four-year and graduate universities: Some of the most prestigious private universities are located in Illinois, including but not limited to University of Chicago and Northwestern University. These universities offer a wide range of academic choices and extensive research opportunities, in both undergraduate and graduate programs.
  • Liberal Arts colleges: Not only is Illinois known for bigger prestigious universities, it also holds a reputation for having some of the best liberal arts colleges in the country. Some of these worth considering are Wheaton College, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Augustana College. These schools offer competitive programs in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, to name a few.

Which Illinois schools are best for your goals? Use our search tool to find out!

Rank School Name City State Net Cost School Level Retention Rate Distance Learning
1

Adler University

Chicago

IL

N/A

4 year

N/A

Yes

2

Alvareitas College of Cosmetology-Belleville

Belleville

IL

N/A

Vocational

62.5%

No

3

Alvareitas College of Cosmetology-Edwardsville

Edwardsville

IL

N/A

Vocational

66.67%

No

4

Alvareitas College of Cosmetology-Godfrey

Godfrey

IL

N/A

Vocational

92.11%

No

5

Ambria College of Nursing

Hoffman Estates

IL

N/A

2 year

80%

Yes

6

American Academy of Art

Chicago

IL

N/A

4 year

72%

No

7

American InterContinental University-Online

Schaumburg

IL

N/A

4 year

35.84%

Yes

8

Argosy University-Chicago

Chicago

IL

N/A

4 year

50%

Yes

9

Argosy University-Schaumburg

Schaumburg

IL

N/A

4 year

N/A

Yes

10

Augustana College

Rock Island

IL

N/A

4 year

82.93%

No

11

Aurora University

Aurora

IL

N/A

4 year

71.03%

Yes

12

Aveda Institute-Chicago

Chicago

IL

N/A

Vocational

91.51%

No

13

Bell Mar Beauty College

Cicero

IL

N/A

Vocational

70.59%

No

14

Benedictine University

Lisle

IL

N/A

4 year

72.79%

Yes

15

Bexley Hall Seabury Western Theological Seminary Federation

Chicago

IL

N/A

4 year

N/A

Yes

16

BIR Training Center

Chicago

IL

N/A

Vocational

70.94%

No

17

Black Hawk College

Moline

IL

$5,798

2 year

47.37%

Yes

18

Blackburn College

Carlinville

IL

N/A

4 year

61.74%

Yes

19

Blessing Hospital School of Medical Laboratory Technology

Quincy

IL

N/A

Vocational

N/A

No

20

Blessing Hospital School of Radiologic Technology

Quincy

IL

N/A

2 year

N/A

No

21

Blessing Rieman College of Nursing

Quincy

IL

N/A

4 year

N/A

Yes

22

Bradley University

Peoria

IL

N/A

4 year

86.12%

Yes

23

Cain's Barber College Inc

Chicago

IL

N/A

Vocational

52.94%

No

24

CALC Institute of Technology

Alton

IL

N/A

Vocational

N/A

No

25

Cameo Beauty Academy

Oak Lawn

IL

N/A

Vocational

75%

No

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Good to Know: Fun Facts about Illinois

  • Here are some interesting facts about Illinois.
  • The Ice Cream Sundae was born in Evanston, IL.
  • The world’s biggest bakery in the world is the Nabisco Factory in Chicago, with a large space of 1,800,000 square feet!
  • More nuclear power is generated in Illinois than any other state in the US.
  • In 1914, Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa coined the term “jazz” in Chicago.
  • A fire-breathing dragon, also known as the Kaskaskia Dragon lives in Vandalia, IL.
  • Channel 5, the first all-color TV station, debuted in Chicago.
  • In 1885, the world’s first ever skyscraper was made in Chicago.
  • The first McDonald’s was opened in Des Plaines.

Which Illinois degree programs are best for your interests and goals? Narrow the list of Illinois colleges with our easy-to-use search tool.