A Guide to Online Colleges in Illinois

The fifth-largest state in the country, Illinois is a little bit of everything: small, modest Midwestern towns; open tracts of farm land; and the windswept, buzzing metropolis of the Second City, Chicago, which remains remains perhaps the American city — sports, comedy, music, pizza, hot dogs. The state serves as a litmus test for the US, equal parts town and country, with one of the busiest airports in the world connecting sea to sea. Still, it wasn't always a geographical median. Much of the state's culture can be attributed to its frontier days, when a wealth of Native American tribes, French Canadians, freedmen, and East-coast migrants commingled, with mixed results, following the Northwest Ordinance, passed in the summer of 1787. That matrix of culture today can be felt across the state, and especially its schools, which are among the country's best: of Illinois's eleven "National Universities," as determined by the Carnegie Foundation, six are rank in US News's top tier. So, if you're an Illini eager to take advantage of the perks of online education, why not state local?

In-state tuition is often applied to public schools offering online programs Many online programs require some face-to-face time, or more numerous support services at their brick and mortar locations. Intensive study experiences–often on the weekends or in several week long bouts–enable many online students to accelerate their time until graduation. And students looking at online education can drastically expand their educational options if they also look to hybrid degrees (degrees where degrees can be taken partially, or mostly online). Finally, one of the most common stipulations in scholarships is that students be from a certain state or region, often more funds are available to students seeking degrees in-state.

The fourteen public schools in Illinois with online degree options offer everything from associate to doctoral programs. UI Urbana-Champaign and Eastern Illinois bother offer more than 20 programs in a wide variety of fields, including Education, Computer Science, Engineering, Health Sciences, Natural and Environmental Sciences, Business, and Counseling, among others, with numerous opportunities for concentrations and degree customization. On the other hand, professional-focused colleges like Wilbur Wright, DuPage, Harper, John Wood Community, Spoon River, and Kaskaskia College offer 26 total associate degrees, designed to accelerate career tracks and provide students with practical skills to leverage into employment opportunities. The largest of these is Harper College, with 11 associates in Accounting, Business, Management Information Systems, and more.

There are also twenty-five Illinois private schools offer online degrees. Concordia's selection of 43 degrees — 32 masters and 11 doctoral — is the largest, with graduate programs in business, education, gerontology, religion, and more (all of which have concentration and certificate options). Next in size are Benedictine University and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, whose primary offerings are in religion, ministry, etc. MacMurray College offers the most bachelor tracks — fourteen — from business, to nursing, to homeland security. For private schools, associate-level degrees are limited, but Moody Bible Institute and Benedictine University each offer tracks in biblical studies and business administration, respectively.

Featured Online Schools

Potential Resident

For a variety of reasons, a student may look to move to the state of their online college program whether specifically required by the program or not – be it for a job, location desirability, school benefits, etc. Different states have different policies, however, and some of them can be rather demanding. Illinois is relatively straightforward. Dependent students should have a permanent home and physically reside in the state, with a permanent mailing address. Independent students must have physically resided in Illinois for 12 continuous full months immediately prior to the start of the academic year. U.S. Armed Forces members and foreign missionaries qualify as residents if they previously resided in the state before entering service, return or plan to return within six months after their service, and can demonstrate that Illinois remained their registered domicile throughout service. To demonstrate residence, potential students may be required to show documentation, i.e., tax returns, driver's license, car registration, etc. More information here.

Compared to the rest of the country, Illinois's higher education costs are slightly above average — at about $13,200 tuition per year at four-year institutions — but still below several other competitive and comparable states'. More important, it's one-year percent change is only 3%, and it's five-year percent change is only 10%, below the national average. (Some states have seen tuitions rise 30% in the last five years.) Other important factors to consider: private schools (and for-profit schools) significantly outnumber public ones, disproportionately raising the state's tuition average; and the state is home six-top tier universities per US News and World Report, which means premium costs but, theoretically, excellent value and prestige pedigree (note that several of these schools are public). All said, modestly above-average tuition costs are commensurate with education quality, and public, professional, and community colleges offer affordable opportunities, too.

Chicago has at least fourteen accredited schools offering online degrees, including University of Illinois at Chicago, Depaul University, Loyola University, National Louis University, Roosevelt University, and North Park University. Concordia and National Louis each offer more than twenty programs in a wide range of fields, from the bachelor's to doctorate level, in management, healthcare, business, criminal justice, education, and leadership, among others. Also of note are the Adler School of Professional Psychology and Chicago School of Professional Psychology, post-baccalaureate schools which offer unique studies in International Psychology, Business Psychology, Forensic Psychology, and Military Psychology, with several concentration options. The most bachelor offerings come from NLU and Roosevelt. Associate-level work is harder to find, but Moody Bible Institute and Wilbur Wright each offer tracks.The two primary online options in Eastern Illinois (south of Chicago) are Eastern Illinois University and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, two of the largest distance education providers in the state. They're also two of the best universities in the state. UI Urbana Champaign, ranked in the top 40 nationally by US News, offers one online bachelor's degree in Earth, Society and Environmental Sustainability and 21 master's degrees in a variety of areas: education (including an array of concentrations), natural resources, environmental science, engineering, library and information science, translation, computer science, and more. Eastern offers a fair distribution of 13 bachelor's and 10 master's programs. Bachelor programs include business, organizational and professional development, and a range of customizable general studies tracks; master programs include studies in business, educational leadership, counseling, and technology. Also note that Olivet Nazarene University offers 11 online degrees, including 3 bachelor's and 8 master's. With more than twenty other schools in the region, prospective students will want to check further for individual online offerings from smaller campuses.

Spoon River College, Mckendree University, and The University of Illinois at Springfield all offer online degrees from the Central Illinois region. Of these, the largest are Springfield and Mckendree, with 15 and 12 total degrees, respectively. Springfield's studies include 6 bachelor's tracks and 9 master's programs in Teacher Leadership, Management Information Systems, Environmental Studies, Human Services Administration -Social Service Administration, Political Science, and an MPA. Mckendree offers 4 master's degrees and 8 bachelor's in Nursing, Psychology, and Business (with concentrations like Sports Management, HR, and Marketing). Western Illinois schools granting online degrees include Quincy University, MacMurray University, John Wood Community College, and Western Illinois University. WIU offers 5 online degrees, but Quincy and MacMurrary are the largest (8 and 14, respectively). MacMurray's online programs are all bachelor-level, with studies in Business, Homeland Security, and Nursing, including a number of customization options. Quincy offers a bachelor's in Business and in Human Services, plus an MA in Communication, MEd in Curriculum and Instruction, and an MBA with several concentrations.

The Best Online Colleges in Illinois

Monitoring the accreditation of a university you are interested in attending is incredibly important. Accreditation ensures your credits can transfer that you can receive Federal financial aid, and most importantly that certain standards of educational quality are during your schooling. The highest accreditation standard for most programs in the United States is provided by regional accreditation agencies. The regional accrediting agency for Illinois is the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional accrediting agencies responsible for accrediting schools in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Making sure that a University you're hoping to attend is regionally accredited — or accredited by a real and respected accrediting agency — is one of the most important choices you can make in ensuring the quality of your education.

Three Steps for Securing Financial Aid

• Submit your FAFSA.

• Check to see if additional forms are needed at your university of choice.

• Search and apply for private scholarships.

Through the previous three steps most students find themselves offered some sort of federal grant, work study, private grant, scholarship, or stipend.

Great Illinois Higher Education Resources

• First stop: check out the Illinois Student Assistance Commission here.

• Planning way ahead? College Illinois! allows families to prepay for future tuition.

• The Illinois Board of Education includes consumer information, planning and budgeting ideas, the latest data, and more.

• The state's Community College Board site offers info current students, adult learners, and businesses.

• The Illinois Education Association offers updates on legislative issues, member benefits, event news, and more.

• Illinois's official education webpage is a nice one-stop shop.

• Students looking to transfer credits into a program should look into the state's iTransfer portal.

• Another statewide transfer credit initiative here.

• The Illinois Community Colleges Online (ILCCO) is a consortium of Illinois community colleges.

• The University of Illinois has a helpful online catalog for individual courses.

• Check here for an Illinois online learning 101.

• For residents in Adams, Pike, Brown, Cass, Morgan, and Scott, check out these resources.

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