Colleges

Colleges in Illinois

Illinois has 49 four-year colleges with at least 500 undergraduates: 12 public and 37 private. The largest is University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with 36,258 undergraduates.

School	City	Type	Undergrads	Acceptance rate	SAT middle 50%	In-state tuition	Avg. net price	Grad rate
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign	Champaign	public	36,258	42.4%	1310–1520	$16,004	$14,355	85.1%
University of Illinois Chicago	Chicago	public	22,170	77.3%	1130–1350	$14,338	$10,974	61.6%
Illinois State University	Normal	public	19,057	88.2%	990–1210	$16,144	$19,398	64.5%
DePaul University	Chicago	private	14,090	75.9%	1140–1330	$45,999	$30,902	67.8%
Loyola University Chicago	Chicago	private	11,737	81.6%	1170–1360	$53,710	$36,079	73%
Northern Illinois University	Dekalb	public	11,301	69.8%		$13,248	$13,391	48.7%
Northwestern University	Evanston	private	9,201	7.7%	1510–1570	$68,322	$29,167	95.1%
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville	Edwardsville	public	8,750	97.5%	950–1190	$12,922	$14,889	57%
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	Carbondale	public	8,494	86.9%	900–1160	$13,334	$13,297	62.4%
University of Chicago	Chicago	private	7,569	4.5%	1510–1580	$70,662	$14,860	95.9%
Columbia College Chicago	Chicago	private	5,368	89.5%		$34,088	$26,598	51.6%
Western Illinois University	Macomb	public	4,410	71.2%		$15,264	$12,937	45.2%
National Louis University	Chicago	private	4,406	95.1%		$12,705	$12,641	30.1%
Eastern Illinois University	Charleston	public	4,188	65.4%	880–1090	$13,679	$12,786	47.4%
Lewis University	Romeoville	private	4,015	71.3%	960–1210	$39,200	$17,028	66.6%
Northeastern Illinois University	Chicago	public	3,982	74.6%		$12,383	$14,109	21.7%
Aurora University	Aurora	private	3,974	80.9%	900–1150	$29,170	$18,838	60.3%
Bradley University	Peoria	private	3,574	76.8%		$42,160	$22,719	76.2%
Saint Xavier University	Chicago	private	3,096	84.3%		$37,940	$10,970	56.6%
Elmhurst University	Elmhurst	private	3,006	73.6%	990–1260	$42,955	$24,185	70%
Roosevelt University	Chicago	private	2,849	97.2%	895–1175	$21,315	$20,194	35.1%
Illinois Institute of Technology	Chicago	private	2,833	54.9%	1180–1440	$52,386	$18,425	75.2%
School of the Art Institute of Chicago	Chicago	private	2,805	77.5%		$56,420	$49,790	67%
Olivet Nazarene University	Bourbonnais	private	2,603	55.9%	950–1220	$38,900	$20,729	60.8%
Dominican University	River Forest	private	2,561	90.3%	880–1100	$38,978	$11,745	55.3%
Governors State University	University Park	public	2,556	48.3%		$12,004	$12,329	22.1%
Augustana College	Rock Island	private	2,490	62.7%	1030–1270	$51,598	$22,736	72.9%
North Central College	Naperville	private	2,428	77.3%	1055–1310	$45,726	$21,044	64%
University of Illinois Springfield	Springfield	public	2,263	85.9%	940–1200	$12,252	$9,833	53.2%
Wheaton College	Wheaton	private	2,121	87.4%	1260–1470	$45,546	$26,975	84.8%
Benedictine University	Lisle	private	1,942	95.2%		$35,940	$22,313	50.3%
North Park University	Chicago	private	1,818	68.5%		$36,710	$16,948	57.7%
Lake Forest College	Lake Forest	private	1,813	56.8%	1190–1393	$56,402	$28,673	77.8%
McKendree University	Lebanon	private	1,752	71.7%		$34,740	$24,717	53.3%
Illinois Wesleyan University	Bloomington	private	1,582	39.3%	1120–1340	$57,704	$28,199	74.7%
Moody Bible Institute	Chicago	private	1,510	82.7%		$15,786	$22,221	62.3%
Chicago State University	Chicago	public	1,384	43.3%		$12,754	$12,335	15.5%
Millikin University	Decatur	private	1,382	66.7%	860–1130	$26,892	$21,989	54.9%
Concordia University-Chicago	River Forest	private	1,323	92.8%		$37,488	$18,436	36.5%
University of St Francis	Joliet	private	1,223	65.3%	1030–1220	$38,110	$13,006	66.8%
Knox College	Galesburg	private	1,127	70.8%	1180–1440	$57,903	$24,595	67.7%
Quincy University	Quincy	private	1,010	50.9%	1000–1200	$37,140	$20,359	45%
Rockford University	Rockford	private	972	92.9%	850–1070	$37,780	$22,436	47.2%
Greenville University	Greenville	private	955	97.5%	771–1230	$32,200	$19,533	39.8%
Illinois College	Jacksonville	private	930	78.2%	883–1180	$38,676	$18,298	63.8%
Trinity Christian College	Palos Heights	private	820	84.9%	1050–1320	$20,605	$19,125	57.5%
Judson University	Elgin	private	708	47.6%	816–1118	$31,360	$18,558	59.9%
Monmouth College	Monmouth	private	702	90.9%	1000–1210	$44,922	$17,133	64.6%
Eureka College	Eureka	private	522	85%		$29,096	$17,349	41.6%

A blank cell means the school did not report that figure. Net price is the average cost after grants for students receiving federal aid. Graduation rate is within six years.

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Frequently asked questions

How many colleges are in Illinois?

49 four-year public and private nonprofit colleges with at least 500 undergraduates, 12 public and 37 private, according to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard. Community colleges, for-profit schools, and online-only schools are not counted.

What is the hardest college to get into in Illinois?

By acceptance rate, University of Chicago (4.5%), Northwestern University (7.7%), Illinois Wesleyan University (39.3%), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (42.4%), Chicago State University (43.3%) are the most selective.

What is the cheapest public college in Illinois?

Governors State University has the lowest published in-state tuition and fees of the public four-year colleges here, at $12,004 a year. That is the sticker price before financial aid.

Source: College Scorecard, Most Recent Institution-Level Data (U.S. Department of Education), 2026-06-10 release. These are federal figures. Schools with a linked profile have also been checked against their own filings; the others have not.