Rankings / Online
Best Online Business Programs in Illinois
CollegeRanker Research
What Surprised Us Most
Graduate earnings span a wide band on this list: $33,680 at the low end to $82,592 at the top, a 2.5× spread that underscores how much outcomes vary within a single category.
South Suburban College offers the strongest payback: graduates earn a median of $33,680 against $3,242 in annual net price, the best earnings-to-cost ratio in this ranking.
The most budget-friendly option on this list is South Suburban College, at $3,242 annually in net price.
Completion rates tell a revealing story: Wheaton College graduates 86% of its students, well above the 51% list average. Finishing what you start matters as much as where you start.
Debt-to-earnings ratios highlight Carl Sandburg College: graduates owe only 0.14× their yearly income, the most manageable debt burden on the list.
Surprising Comparisons
- The ranking's top spot belongs to University of St Francis ($63,926 earnings), not the highest earner Illinois Institute of Technology ($82,592) — a direct result of weighting mobility and value over salary alone.
- Price and payoff diverge sharply: South Suburban College ($3,242/yr) and Loyola University Chicago ($36,079/yr) produce graduates earning $33,680 and $71,530 respectively — a much narrower earnings gap than the $32,837 cost difference would suggest.
- On a cost-adjusted basis, South Suburban College outperforms Illinois Institute of Technology: similar career earnings at a much lower net price.
The Takeaway
The through line among the top-ranked schools is clear: they combine solid graduate earnings with affordable costs and meaningful social mobility. Prestige and selectivity matter far less than whether students end up better off.
What This Means for Students
Your shortlist should start with South Suburban College and Wheaton College. For each school, look up the net price your family would actually pay, weigh it against typical graduate earnings, and build your decision around the return — not the name recognition.
At a Glance
How the Top Schools Compare
| School | Earnings | Net Price | Graduation | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 University of St Francis #1 overall | $63,926 +19% vs avg | $13,006 | 66% | 100 |
| 2 University of Illinois Springfield #2 overall | $57,103 +6% vs avg | $9,833 | 57% | 100 |
| 3 National Louis University #3 overall | $45,799 -15% vs avg | $12,641 | 33% | 100 |
| $58,572 +9% vs avg | $24,717 | 57% | 100 | |
| $58,169 +8% vs avg | $12,329 | 21% | 100 |
Score uses our 4-pillar methodology. Earnings % is vs. this list's average.
See full ranking →Key Findings
Best Online Business Programs in Illinois
Strongest Earnings-to-Cost Ratio: South Suburban College (Net Price: $3,242 | Graduation Rate: 26%)
Strongest Completion Outcomes: Wheaton College (86% completion rate)
Highest Earnings Generator: Illinois Institute of Technology (Median alumni earnings: $82,592)
Data Insight
The most expensive quartile of colleges costs 373% more than the most affordable — but their graduates earn just 34% more.
Why this ranking matters
Business is one of the higher-return fields in the economy — but the payoff depends heavily on where you study it. Graduates of these programs earn a median of about $54K within a decade, and management analyst roles are projected to grow 10%. We rank programs by the outcomes they produce for graduates, not by reputation.
How we measure this — full methodology →How we rank · 4 pillars
Federal-source data only. Build your own weighting →
Management Education Analysis
What does this ranking tell us about leadership and management education?
$54,126
Median earnings (10yr)
53%
Median graduation rate
$14,622
Median net price
1.6%
Avg. mobility rate
Management education occupies a unique place in the higher-ed landscape: it promises a direct return on investment through higher salaries and faster career progression. But that promise plays out unevenly — top-tier programs deliver transformative network effects and placement outcomes, while others struggle to move the needle on earnings relative to cost. The variation in outcomes across programs is wider here than in almost any other discipline.
Graduation rates across these 50 schools average a median of 53%. Median graduate earnings reach $54,126 ten years out — roughly $6,126 more than the national worker average of $48,000. Average net price is $14,622 a year, and median federal debt at graduation is about $22,081. Some 38% of students receive Pell grants, and mobility — the share of low-income students who reach the top — averages 1.6%.
The takeaway from this list: in management education, network effects amplify everything. Graduates earn a median of $54,126 ten years out, and University of St Francis leads the field — but the gap between the top and the middle is wide enough that school selection is arguably the most consequential financial decision in this entire category.
The podium
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Full rankings
Edwardsville, IL · 98% accepted · $14,889 net
Champaign, IL · 42% accepted · $14,355 net
Carbondale, IL · 87% accepted · $13,297 net
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Cut it by what you care about
The same 50 schools, re-ranked by the outcome that matters to you.
Where the programs — and the jobs are
Where these graduates work
Graduates of these programs most often become Management Analysts and related roles — a field with $99,410 median pay and 10% projected growth.
See the Management Analyst career guide →This ranking scores 50 institutions on graduation rates, graduate earnings, debt burdens, and social mobility data from Opportunity Insights. Every data point comes from federal sources. No surveys, no opinions.
Social mobility carries the heaviest weight in our algorithm. We use Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card — built on 30 million anonymized tax records — to measure whether a college changes a family's economic trajectory across generations. Schools that take low-income students and launch them into higher earnings rank higher than schools that admit wealthy students and take credit for their success.
The transparency penalty matters here. Schools that don't report their data get scored lower than schools that do. If an institution won't show you its numbers, we think you should know that before you write them a tuition check.
The story behind the ranking
A ranking gives you an order; these charts give you the shape. They show how this group of schools spreads across the four things that decide whether a degree pays off — what graduates earn, whether they finish, how far they move up, and what it costs. Look for the standouts, the outliers, and the trade-offs the list alone can't show.
Earnings Outcomes
What graduates earn 10 years after enrolling. Data from College Scorecard.
Distribution of Median Earnings
Earnings vs. Net Price
Top-left = best value. Top-ranked schools are highlighted.
Completion & Access
Graduation rates and who gets in. Data from College Scorecard & IPEDS.
Graduation Rates
Pell Grant Rate vs. Graduation Rate
Right = more low-income students. Higher = more graduate.
What the Mobility Data Says
The backbone of this ranking is social-mobility data from Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card, drawing on over 30 million tax records. Among the 37 schools on this list with available data, the typical mobility rate — the share of students who move from the bottom income quintile to the top — averages 1.6%. Chicago State University leads the group at 3.7%, with Illinois Institute of Technology (3.6%) and Northeastern Illinois University (3.2%) close behind.
Who gets in matters as much as what happens after. Across these schools, an average of 8.4% of students start in the bottom income quintile. Chicago State University leads at 25.7% — evidence of genuine access, not just selective enrollment of already-advantaged students. Schools that pair high access with high mobility are the ones driving real generational change.
Once low-income students enroll, their odds of reaching the top income quintile average 22.8% across this list. Illinois Institute of Technology posts the highest success rate at 60.6% — a reminder that access without completion and career momentum is an incomplete picture.
Social capital — measured by economic connectedness, or the degree of cross-class friendships on campus — is another dimension Opportunity Insights ties to long-run outcomes. Across these schools it averages 1.52 (1.0 is the national benchmark); Loyola University Chicago reaches 1.80, the highest on the list.
Mobility, access, and social-capital figures from Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card & the Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas.
Cost & Debt
What families actually pay and what students owe. Data from College Scorecard.
Median Debt at Graduation
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Online Business Programs in Illinois: Your Questions, Answered
What is the #1 school in the Best Online Business Programs in Illinois ranking? +
University of St Francis in Joliet, IL ranks #1 in our 2026 Best Online Business Programs in Illinois ranking. It earns the top spot on the strength of a median $63,926 in graduate earnings ten years out and a 66% graduation rate. Our score is built entirely from federal data — graduation rates, graduate earnings, debt, and social-mobility figures — not reputation surveys.
Which school has the highest graduate earnings? +
Illinois Institute of Technology posts the highest median earnings on this list at $82,592 ten years after enrollment — well above the $53,824 average across the 50 ranked schools with earnings data. Strong earnings relative to cost are what separate a degree that pays off from one that doesn't.
Which school offers the best value? +
On a pure return-on-cost basis, South Suburban College leads: graduates earn a median $33,680 against net price of about $3,242 a year, the strongest earnings-to-cost ratio in the ranking. Value-minded applicants should weigh that payback against sticker price, not just prestige.
Which school has the highest graduation rate? +
Wheaton College has the highest graduation rate in this ranking at 86%, compared with a 51% average across the list. Completion matters because the students who finish are the ones who actually capture the earnings and mobility gains a degree promises.
How much does it cost to attend these schools? +
The average net price — what students actually pay after grants and scholarships — is about $15,642 a year across the 50 ranked schools with cost data, with South Suburban College among the most affordable at roughly $3,242. Net price is a far better guide to affordability than the published sticker price.
How is the Best Online Business Programs in Illinois ranking calculated? +
We score every school on a four-pillar algorithm: economic outcomes (graduate earnings and debt), social mobility (Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card, built on more than 30 million anonymized tax records), academic quality (graduation and retention), and value (net price and loan burden). Social mobility carries the heaviest weight, so schools that lift low-income students into higher earnings rank above those that simply admit wealthy students. Every input comes from federal data, and schools that withhold their numbers are scored lower for it.
How many schools are ranked and where does the data come from? +
This ranking evaluates 50 institutions using the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard, the Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Card and Social Capital Atlas, Times Higher Education, and NCES IPEDS. There are no opinion surveys or paid placements — the order is determined by the data alone and refreshed as new federal figures are released.
Sources & Citations
David Krug
Co-Founder, CollegeRanker
David Krug is the co-founder of CollegeRanker and a data systems architect focused on making institutional research accessible to families. He builds the data pipelines and ranking algorithms that power CollegeRanker, drawing from federal datasets and Raj Chetty's Opportunity Insights research to measure what traditional rankings ignore: whether a college actually changes a family's economic trajectory.
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