Find a Job You Really Want In
One of the biggest things that incoming college freshmen consider when they’re thinking about what school to attend is the likelihood that a school will improve their job prospects.
Jobs are hard to come by nowadays, after all, and the everyday expenses of living in a country like America aren’t cheap.
Compared to a lot of other states, Illinois has some unique advantages as far as attending college here goes. There are impressive research universities, quality state schools, and the ability to study majors that will prepare you well for the job market.
All that made us curious — with so many good colleges to attend in IL, which ones, in particular, were most likely to help their graduates land a job? Using data from IPEDS as well as College Scorecard as a baseline, we created this list of some of the best colleges for jobs in Illinois.
The full list can be found further down, but first, here’s a look at the top ten best colleges for jobs in Illinois:
- Illinois Wesleyan University
- Augustana College
- Bradley University
- Eastern Illinois University
- Millikin University
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Illinois State University
- Illinois College
- Lewis University
- Western Illinois University
If you go to one of these schools, chances are, you’re not surprised. After all, you know how great you have it.
But for the rest of you — keep reading and we’ll get to just why these schools have some of the best programs the state of Illinois has to offer.
How We Determined The Best Schools In Illinois For Jobs
Using the College Scorecard Data, we searched for the college in each state with the highest listed job placement ratings, looking specifically at employment levels at year 10 after students have graduated.
We limited the analysis to the 58 public and non-profit, four year institutions colleges in Illinois that offer at least a bachelors degree.
Then, we ranked each college from best to worst on the percentage of graduates with jobs. For the purposes of readability, each school’s rating was then rounded down to the last two decimal places.
The school with the highest percentage of grads with jobs, Illinois Wesleyan University, earned the distinction of being the ‘Best College For Jobs in Illinois.’
Best Colleges For Getting A Job In Illinois
| Rank | College | Employed |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois Wesleyan University | 95.45% |
| 2 | Augustana College | 95.33% |
| 3 | Bradley University | 93.79% |
| 4 | Eastern Illinois University | 93.52% |
| 5 | Millikin University | 93.19% |
| 6 | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | 93.14% |
| 7 | Illinois State University | 93.13% |
| 8 | Illinois College | 92.74% |
| 9 | Lewis University | 92.71% |
| 10 | Western Illinois University | 92.51% |
| 11 | Dominican University | 92.44% |
| 12 | Monmouth College | 92.34% |
| 13 | Quincy University | 92.14% |
| 14 | Northern Illinois University | 91.98% |
| 15 | MacMurray College | 91.89% |
| 16 | Northwestern University | 91.87% |
| 17 | Elmhurst College | 91.82% |
| 18 | Blackburn College | 91.62% |
| 19 | Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville | 91.57% |
| 20 | University of St Francis | 91.49% |
| 21 | Greenville University | 91.3% |
| 22 | Aurora University | 91.3% |
| 23 | McKendree University | 91.2% |
| 24 | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale | 91.16% |
| 25 | North Central College | 91.15% |
| 26 | University of Illinois at Springfield | 90.97% |
| 27 | Rockford University | 90.94% |
| 28 | Lake Forest College | 90.65% |
| 29 | Illinois Institute of Technology | 90.58% |
| 30 | University of Illinois at Chicago | 90.5% |
| 31 | Loyola University Chicago | 90.21% |
| 32 | Saint Xavier University | 90.11% |
| 33 | University of Chicago | 89.57% |
| 34 | North Park University | 89.44% |
| 35 | Knox College | 88.83% |
| 36 | Olivet Nazarene University | 88.78% |
| 37 | Judson University | 88.67% |
| 38 | Lincoln College | 88.52% |
| 39 | DePaul University | 88.51% |
| 40 | Columbia College Chicago | 88.49% |
| 41 | Concordia University-Chicago | 88.38% |
| 42 | Trinity Christian College | 88.18% |
| 43 | Benedictine University | 87.22% |
| 44 | East-West University | 87.0% |
| 45 | Wheaton College | 86.93% |
| 46 | National Louis University | 86.42% |
| 47 | Robert Morris University Illinois | 86.3% |
| 48 | American Academy of Art | 86.18% |
| 49 | Roosevelt University | 86.13% |
| 50 | Chicago State University | 85.71% |
| 51 | Lincoln Christian University | 85.42% |
| 52 | Governors State University | 85.14% |
| 53 | Northeastern Illinois University | 84.68% |
| 54 | Trinity International University-Illinois | 83.69% |
| 55 | National University of Health Sciences | 83.67% |
| 56 | School of the Art Institute of Chicago | 82.12% |
| 57 | Saint Augustine College | 79.33% |
| 58 | Hebrew Theological College | 71.92% |
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
