Illinois Schools Ranked Among 2022’s Best Colleges: U.S. News

ILLINOIS — As colleges in Illinois continue to work through the academic challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, several schools were recognized this week for their steadfast dedication to providing students a quality education.

U.S. News & World Report on Monday released its 2022 Best Colleges rankings, which evaluate more than 1,400 U.S. colleges and universities on 17 different academic measures.

The purpose of the list is to provide students and their families with the necessary tools to find the right college for them.

To rank colleges, U.S. News first places each school into a category based on its mission and, in some cases, its geographic location. National universities, which focus on research and offer several doctoral programs, are ranked separately from liberal arts colleges. In its regional rankings, U.S. News only compares universities and colleges with other schools in the same group and region.

Data for the 2022 edition of Best Colleges was gathered in the spring and early summer of this year. U.S. News gathered data on student retention, graduation rates, graduate indebtedness, financial resources, alumni giving and more. Colleges were then ranked based on their overall scores.

Read more about the 2022 Best Colleges methodology.

New this year is the Best Undergraduate Nursing Programs ranking, which looked at more than 690 schools offering Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing degree programs.

These Illinois colleges and universities were among those included in this year’s rankings:

National Universities (Top 300)

• University of Chicago, Chicago. Ranked 6.
• Northwestern University, Evanston. Ranked 9.
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Ranked 47.
• Loyola University Chicago, Chicago. Ranked 103.
• University of Illinois-Chicago, Chicago. Ranked 103
• Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ranked 122.
• DePaul University, Chicago. Ranked 127.
• Illinois State University, Normal. Ranked 202.
• University of St. Francis, Joliet. Ranked 249.
• Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. Ranked 263.

National Liberal Arts Colleges (Top 165)

• Principia College, Elsah. Ranked 59.
• Wheaton College, Wheaton. Ranked 59.
• Knox College, Galesburg. Ranked 79.
• Lake Forest College, Lake Forest. Ranked 82.
• Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington. Ranked 89.
• Augustana College, Rock Island. Ranked 92.
• Monmouth College, Monmouth. Ranked 126.
• Illinois College, Jacksonville. Ranked 146.

Regional Universities (Midwest Top 117)

• Bradley University, Peoria. Ranked 2.
• Dominican University, River Forest. Ranked 10.
• Elmhurst University, Elmhurst. Ranked 17.
• Lewis University, Romeoville. Ranked 19.
• North Central College, Naperville. Ranked 19.
• University of Illinois, Springfield. Ranked 30.
• North Park University, Chicago. Ranked 41.
• McKendree University, Lebanon. Ranked 54.
• Saint Xavier University, Chicago. Ranked 54.
• Western Illinois University, Macomb. Ranked 54.
• Concordia University, Chicago. Ranked 61.
• Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais. Ranked 64.
• Columbia College Chicago, Chicago. Ranked 88.
• Greenville University, Greenville. Ranked 95.
• Judson University, Elgin. Ranked 95.

Regional Colleges (Midwest Top 55)

• Millikin University, Decatur. Ranked 12.
• Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights. Ranked 19.
• Eureka College, Eureka. Ranked 25.
• Quincy University, Quincy. Ranked 29.
• St. Augustine College, Chicago. Ranked 45.

See all Illinois schools ranked among 2022’s Best U.S. Colleges.

Princeton University is once again No. 1 among National Universities, and Williams College remains in the top spot among National Liberal Arts Colleges.

For Top Public Schools, the University of California - Los Angeles is No. 1 among National Universities. The United States Naval Academy ranks No. 1 for Top Public Schools among National Liberal Arts Colleges.