2023 Best Trade Schools in Illinois
Today's trade school students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house.
Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Trade College Search has created the Best Trade Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 59 schools in Illinois to see which programs offered the best educational experiences for trade school students.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Trade Schools in Illinois
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our analysis found University of St Francis to be the best school for trade school students in Illinois. University of Saint Francis is located in Joliet, Illinois and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 980 degrees to qualified students.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Northwestern University. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Northwestern is located in Evanston, Illinois and has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 9,725 degrees to qualified students.
Out of the 59 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Concordia University, Chicago landed the # 3 spot on the list. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in River Forest, Illinois, and it awarded 1,817 degrees in 2021-2022.
The excellent programs at DeVry University - Illinois helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best trade schools in Illinois. DeVry University - Illinois is a private for-profit institution located in Naperville, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 9,399 degrees in 2021-2022.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Rasmussen University - Illinois. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Rasmussen University - Illinois is a small private for-profit school situated in Rockford, Illinois. It awarded 1,312 degrees in 2021-2022.
Oakton Community College landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. Oakton Community College is a public institution located in Des Plaines, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1,875 degrees in 2021-2022.
Illinois State University ranked #7 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Illinois State is a large public school situated in Normal, Illinois. It awarded 5,654 degrees in 2021-2022.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ranked #8 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Champaign, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 15,945 students in 2021-2022.
Read full report on University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
With a ranking of #9, National Louis University did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 2,214 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #10, College of Lake County did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. College of Lake County is located in Grayslake, Illinois and has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 4,149 degrees to qualified students.
Northern Illinois University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for trade school students. It came in at #11 on the list. NIU is located in Dekalb, Illinois and has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 4,352 degrees to qualified students.
William Rainey Harper College landed the #12 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. William Rainey Harper College is a fairly large public school located in Palatine, Illinois that handed out 4,419 degrees in 2021-2022.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale came in at #13 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking. SIUC is a public institution located in Carbondale, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 3,109 degrees in 2021-2022.
Roosevelt University came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking. Roosevelt is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 1,345 degrees in 2021-2022.
University of Illinois at Chicago ranked #15 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 8,607 students in 2021-2022.
North Park University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. North Park University is a small private not-for-profit school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 684 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #17, Western Illinois University did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Located in Macomb, Illinois, the medium-sized public school awarded 1,819 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
Rock Valley College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for trade school students. It came in at #19 on the list. This medium-sized public school is located in Rockford, Illinois, and it awarded 1,630 degrees in 2021-2022.
City Colleges of Chicago - Malcolm X College ranked #20 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Malcolm X College is located in Chicago, Illinois and has a medium-sized student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 1,666 degrees to qualified students.
Lewis University ranked #21 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. This medium-sized private not-for-profit school is located in Romeoville, Illinois, and it awarded 1,896 degrees in 2021-2022.
Kaskaskia College ranked #22 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Kaskaskia College is a small public school situated in Centralia, Illinois. It awarded 842 degrees in 2021-2022.
DePaul University ranked #23 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. DePaul is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 5,914 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #24, Morton College did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Morton College is a small public school located in Cicero, Illinois that handed out 622 degrees in 2021-2022.
Joliet Junior College ranked #25 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Joliet Junior College is located in Joliet, Illinois and has a fairly large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 2,944 degrees to qualified students.
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
- Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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