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Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois

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2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

38 Colleges
$8,670 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$57,601 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Associate Degree School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was the most popular one in Illinois. In total, 21,938 people earned a degree or certificate in the field from a school in Illinois.

Today's nursing students have lots of options to pick from when considering higher education opportunities. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

Along with in-depth profiles of schools and the programs they offer, Nursing Degree Search has created the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois to help you in your search for the best school for you. Our analysis looked at 38 schools in Illinois to see which associate degree programs offered the best value experiences for nursing students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

Our calculations use out-of-state tuition and fees in our nationwide and regional rankings. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

Top 10 Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools

Our analysis found Lincoln Land Community College to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a associate degree in Illinois. LLCC is a small public school located in the medium-sized city of Springfield.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at LLCC are $6,840 per year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at LLCC accumulate an average of around $22,153 in student debt.

LLCC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois list.

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You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Elgin Community College. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the city of Elgin, ECC is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

ECC undergraduate students pay an average of $7,140 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at ECC accumulate an average of around $15,362 in student debt.

ECC also claimed a spot on our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois list. It’s in the top 20% of all schools in this category.

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#3

Rend Lake College

Ina, IL

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Rend Lake College is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Rend Lake College is a small public school located in the rural area of Ina.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Rend Lake College are $6,000 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Rend Lake College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $12,957.

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#3

John A Logan College

Carterville, IL

The excellent associate degree programs at John A Logan College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in Illinois. John A Logan College is a small public school located in the small suburb of Carterville.

John A Logan College undergraduate students pay an average of $5,960 in in-state tuition and fees each year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at John A Logan College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $14,016.

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A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Highland Community College is a great value for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the distant town of Freeport, Highland Community College is a public college with a small student population.

Highland Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $6,846 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Highland Community College accumulate an average of around $19,818 in student debt.

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Southwestern Illinois College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois list. Located in the large suburb of Belleville, SWIC is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at SWIC are $6,390 per year. After completing their Associate Degree, nursing graduates from SWIC carry an average student debtload of $16,832.

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#7

Lake Land College

Mattoon, IL

Lake Land College came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Located in the town of Mattoon, Lake Land College is a public school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Lake Land College are $8,104 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Lake Land College take out while working on their Associate Degree is $13,552.

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With a ranking of #8, William Rainey Harper College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Located in the suburb of Palatine, Harper College is a public college with a large student population.

Harper College undergraduate students pay an average of $9,870 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, nursing graduates from Harper College take out $19,644 in student loans while working on their Associate Degree.

Harper College also took the #3 spot in our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

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#9

Oakton Community College

Des Plaines, IL

Oakton Community College came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Oakton Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the city of Des Plaines.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Oakton Community College are $10,446 a year. While working on their Associate Degree, nursing majors at Oakton Community College accumulate an average of around $11,885 in student debt.

Oakton Community College also took the #2 spot in our Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in Illinois rankings.

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#10

Waubonsee Community College

Sugar Grove, IL

With a ranking of #10, Waubonsee Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their associate degree. Waubonsee is a medium-sized public school located in the rural area of Sugar Grove.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Waubonsee are $9,271 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Waubonsee take out while working on their Associate Degree is $17,386.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Waubonsee is ranked #5 for overall quality for nursing in Illinois.

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Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Value Nursing Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
Michigan 7,345
Ohio 13,973
Indiana 7,922
Wisconsin 5,410

Nursing Focus Areas

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 26 schools only.

  • 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 the rest 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).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Aleksahgabrielle.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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