Astonishing Ideas : 12 Top-Ranked Colleges in Illinois, According to Forbes

Thursday, August 27, 2015

12 Top-Ranked Colleges in Illinois, According to Forbes

In its annual list of top colleges, Forbes includes schools from all over the country. Most recently, Forbes published its list for 2015. Forbes used the following five factors in their methodology to determine which schools are the best:

Student Satisfaction (25 percent)
Post-Graduate Success (32.5 percent)
Student Debt (25 percent)
Four-year Graduation Rate (7.5 percent)
Academic Success (10 percent)

The idea behind using this methodology is to base the greatness of a college on what students get out of their institutions. Caroline Howard, Forbes staff member, writes:

We're not all that interested in what gets a student into college, like our peers who focus heavily on selectivity metrics such as high school class rank, SAT scores and the like. Our sights are set directly on ROI: What are students getting out of college?

College has become one of the biggest financial decisions students and their families make. They deserve all the information they can get on the questions that directly concern them: Will my classes and campus experience be interesting? Is it likely I will graduate in four years? Will I incur a ton of debt getting my degree? And once I get out of school, will I get a good job and find success in my career? We pointedly ignore any metrics that would encourage schools to engage in wasteful spending.

Out of the list of best colleges in the country, these were 12 of the highest-ranking Illinois schools:
*To see where each school ranks nationally, click here.

17. Millikin University

16. North Central College

15. Elmhurst College

14. Illinois State University

13. University of Illinois, Chicago

12. Lake Forest College

11. Loyola University Chicago

10. DePaul University

9. Augustana College

8. Illinois Institute of Technology

7. Illinois Wesleyan University

6. Bradley University

To see the top 5 colleges in Illinois, as well as where all 17 college rank nationally, check out Reboot Illinois.

NEXT ARTICLE: This Illinois college will give you the biggest bang for your buck

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