Illinois Schools Ranked Among U.S. News’ 2022-2023 Best Colleges

ILLINOIS — Four colleges and universities in Illinois are among the top 100 higher education institutions in the nation, according to the 2022-2023 Best Colleges rankings released Monday by U.S. News & World Report.

The University of Chicago and Northwestern University both cracked the Top 10 of the national rankings, coming in No. 6 and No. 10, respectively. The University of Illinois-Champaign (41) and the University of Illinois-Chicago (97) rounded out the schools in Illinois that were listed among the top 100 nationally.

On a regional basis, Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington and Millikin University in Decatur also finished in the Top 10 in the category.

U.S. News has been publishing the respected guide for prospective students and families for nearly 40 years. The methodology has changed over the years to reflect changes in higher education, Kim Castro, editor and chief content officer at U.S. News, said in a news release.

U.S. News touts its ranking for providing millions of parents with “useful data and information to help with one of life’s biggest decisions,” Castro said.

U.S. News ranked 1,500 colleges and universities across 17 academic measures. 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.

Illinois schools that made the ranking include:

National Universities

• The University of Chicago, Chicago. Ranked 6
• Northwestern University, Evanston. Ranked 10
• The University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana Ranked 41
• The University of Illinois-Chicago. Ranked 97
• Loyola University-Chicago. Ranked 115
• Illinois Institute of Technology. Chicago. Ranked 127
• DePaul University, Chicago. Ranked 137
• Bradley University, Peoria. Ranked 166
• Illinois State University, Normal. Ranked 219
• Southern Illinois University. Ranked 263
• University of St. Francis, Joliet. Ranked 299
• Aurora University, Aurora. Ranked 331-440
• National Louis University, Chicago. Ranked 331-440
• Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. Ranked 331-440
• Roosevelt University, Chicago, Ranked 331-440
• Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Ranked 331-440
• Trinity International University, Deerfield. Ranked 331-440

National Liberal Arts Colleges

• Principia College, Elsah, IL. Ranked 51
• Wheaton College, Wheaton. Ranked 63
• Knox College, Galesburg. Ranked 72
• Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Ranked 85
• Augustana College, Rock Island. Ranked 94
• Illinois College, Jacksonville. Ranked 130
• Monmouth College, Monmouth. Ranked 130
• East-West College, Chicago. Ranked 156-201
• Hebrew Theological College, Skokie. Unranked.

Regional Colleges

• Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington. Ranked 3
• Millikin University, Decatur. Ranked 10
• Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights. Ranked 14
• Eureka College, Eureka. Ranked 23
• Quincy University, Quincy. Ranked 25
• Blackburn College, Carlinville. Ranked 35
• St. Augustine College, Chicago. Ranked 47

Regional Universities

• Elmhurst University, Elmhurst. Ranked 13
• Dominican University, River Forest, Ranked 15
• North Central College, Naperville. Ranked 17
• The University of Illinois-Springfield. Ranked 20
• Lewis University, Romeoville. Ranked 22
• North Park University, Chicago. Ranked 39
• Western Illinois University, Macomb. Ranked 39
• Eastern Illinois University, Charleston. Ranked 53
• Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, Ranked 53
• Benedictine University, Lisle. Ranked 58
• McKendree University, Lebanon. Ranked 58
• Saint Xavier University, Chicago, Ranked 62
• Columbia College, Chicago. Ranked 75
• Concordia College, River Forest. Ranked 85
• Judson University, Elgin, Ranked 89
• Chicago State University, Chicago. Ranked 127-166
• DeVry University, Naperville. Ranked 127-166
• Governors State University, University Park. Ranked 127-166
• Greenville University, Greenville. Ranked 127-166
• Lincoln Christian University, Lincoln. Ranked 127-166
• Northeastern University, Chicago. Ranked 127-166
• Rockford University, Rockford. Ranked 127-166

Overall, the top three schools in each category are:

National Universities

• Princeton University (New Jersey)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Tie: Harvard University (Massachusetts), Stanford University (California), and Yale University (Connecticut)

National Liberal Arts Colleges

• Williams College (Massachusetts)
• Amherst College (Massachusetts)
• Pomona College (California)

National Universities (Public)

• Tie: University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, Los Angeles

3. Tie: University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and University of Virginia

National Liberal Arts Colleges (Public)

• United States Naval Academy
• United States Military Academy at West Point
• United States Air Force Academy

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Universities

• Keiser University (Florida)
• University of California, Riverside
• California State University – Long Beach

Top Performers on Social Mobility — National Liberal Arts Colleges

4. Salem College (North Carolina)

5. Lake Forest College (Illinois)

6. Tougaloo College (Mississippi)

To compile the rankings, U.S. News focuses on academic quality and places emphasis on outcome measures, including graduation rates, retention rates, graduate indebtedness, and social mobility. Graduation rates and other outcomes represent 40 percent of each school’s overall score.

U.S. News said it changed how it weights SAT and ACT scores because demand for the college entrance exams plummeted due to the pandemic, especially among students living in low-income households.

Part-time faculty members were considered in measures of faculty resources, reflecting a trend for more part-time instructors, U.S. News said. Previously, only full-time instructors were considered.

Read more about the methodology.