Illinois colleges enjoy a very unique reputation for academic excellence, athletic achievements, and cultural diversity. Ever since its founding, Illinois has drawn different ethnic groups from all over the world. This multicultural background has allowed Illinois to
absorb many different ways of thinking over the years. Thus, despite Illinois' being dubbed the "Prairie State", a city like Chicago can go head-to-head with metropolises such as New York, Los Angeles, and other coastal cities.
Illinois private colleges and universities offer a wide range of education programs with degrees and certificates up to the doctoral level, as well as professional degrees such as law and medicine. These Illinois private schools are diverse in character, academic emphasis, and origins. Some private colleges or schools have a religious affiliation; others are secular. Private colleges and universities may be profit or non-profit institutions. Typically,
Illinois independent colleges or private schools give weight to personal characteristics and activities in addition to considering GPA and test scores. While many
Illinois private schools are considerably more expensive than comparable state institutions, they also tend to offer more generous financial aid packages. Many students have found the actual out-of-pocket cost to earn a degree from a private college in Illinois to be less than the cost of the state schools to which they were accepted. On the one hand, public colleges are usually less expensive, particularly for in-state residents. They get most of their money from the state or local government. Check out your state's Guide to Residency.
Illinois private colleges rely on tuition, fees, endowments, and other private sources of funding. On the other hand, Illinois private colleges are usually smaller and can offer more personalized attention (and some believe, more prestige).
Illinois College Graduate and Undergraduate Degrees
When a small group of private college presidents convened in Chicago in 1904 to form the Federation, they could not have imagined where their efforts would lead.
Since its founding in 1904, the oldest private college association in the nation has evolved from a social club for college presidents to a dynamic advocacy organization representing the interests of private colleges and universities in the policy arena. With a state wide membership of
58 institutions, the Federation provides a unified voice for the independent sector of higher education in Illinois.
The programs offered by Illinois colleges and universities a are diverse, with plenty of options to choose from. Choices range from Massage Therapy to Communication degrees with just about everything in between.
