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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. Joliet, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out degrees to 980 students in 2021-2022.
A rank of #2 on this year’s list means Northwestern University is a great place for trade school students. Northwestern is a large private not-for-profit school situated in Evanston, Illinois. It awarded 9,725 degrees in 2021-2022.
The excellent programs at Concordia University, Chicago helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best trade schools in Illinois. Located in River Forest, Illinois, the medium-sized private not-for-profit school handed out 1,817 degrees in 2021-2022.
Out of the 59 schools in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, DeVry University - Illinois landed the # 4 spot on the list. Naperville, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out degrees to 9,399 students in 2021-2022.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Rasmussen University - Illinois is a great place for trade school students. Rasmussen University - Illinois is a private for-profit institution located in Rockford, Illinois. The school has a small population, and 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. Des Plaines, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 1,875 students in 2021-2022.
Illinois State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking. Normal, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 5,654 students in 2021-2022.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. UIUC is a public institution located in Champaign, Illinois. The school has a large population, and it awarded 15,945 degrees in 2021-2022.
National Louis University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. National Louis University is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school located in Chicago, Illinois that handed out 2,214 degrees in 2021-2022.
College of Lake County ranked #10 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Grayslake, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 4,149 students in 2021-2022.
Northern Illinois University ranked #11 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. NIU is a public institution located in Dekalb, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 4,352 degrees in 2021-2022.
William Rainey Harper College ranked #12 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Palatine, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 4,419 students 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 fairly large public school situated in Carbondale, Illinois. It awarded 3,109 degrees in 2021-2022.
Roosevelt University ranked #14 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Roosevelt is a private not-for-profit institution located in Chicago, Illinois. The school has a small population, and it awarded 1,345 degrees in 2021-2022.
University of Illinois at Chicago landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. UIC is located in Chicago, Illinois and has a large student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 8,607 degrees to qualified students.
North Park University landed the #16 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best trade school programs. North Park is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Chicago, Illinois. It awarded 684 degrees in 2021-2022.
Western Illinois University came in at #17 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in Macomb, Illinois, the medium-sized public school awarded 1,819 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
Rock Valley College ranked #19 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Rockford, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out degrees to 1,630 students in 2021-2022.
City Colleges of Chicago - Malcolm X College came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in Chicago, Illinois, the medium-sized public school awarded 1,666 diplomas to qualifed students in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #21, Lewis University did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Lewis is a private not-for-profit institution located in Romeoville, Illinois. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 1,896 degrees in 2021-2022.
Kaskaskia College came in at #22 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking. Kaskaskia College is located in Centralia, Illinois and has a small student population. In 2021-2022, this school awarded 842 degrees to qualified students.
DePaul University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Trade Schools in Illinois ranking. Chicago, Illinois is the setting for this large institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out degrees to 5,914 students in 2021-2022.
Morton College ranked #24 on this year’s Best Trade Schools in Illinois list. Located in Cicero, Illinois, the small public school handed out 622 degrees in 2021-2022.
With a ranking of #25, Joliet Junior College did quite well on this year’s best schools for trade school students working. Joliet Junior College is a public institution located in Joliet, Illinois. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 2,944 degrees in 2021-2022.
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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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