Best Art Director programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Formulate design concepts and presentation approaches for visual productions and media, such as print, broadcasting, video, and film.
31 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 524 people a year. The job pays a median of $103,550 in Illinois across about 2,960 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
3 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 50.0409In Illinois → | 491 | 93.7% | 29 | $31,611 | $26,000 |
| 2 | CIP 50.0102In Illinois → | 26 | 5.0% | 3 | $24,752 | $25,963 |
| 3 | CIP 50.0706In Illinois → | 7 | 1.3% | 1 | $24,447 | $25,294 |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 8 of the 31 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 71 | Graphic Design | $29,630 | 52% | $28,087 | 89% |
| 2 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Graphic Design | $34,670 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 3 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Graphic Design | $34,377 | 62% | — | 77% |
| 4 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Graphic Design | $30,536 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 5 | Joliet Junior College Joliet, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Graphic Design | — | 21% | — | — |
| 6 | Rend Lake College Ina, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Graphic Design | — | 63% | — | — |
| 7 | McHenry County College Crystal Lake, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 25 | Graphic Design | — | 37% | — | — |
| 8 | Elgin Community College Elgin, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Graphic Design | — | 41% | — | — |
| 9 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Digital Arts | — | 70% | $20,794 | 74% |
| 10 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Graphic Design | — | 22% | — | 75% |
| 11 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Graphic Design | $28,037 | 64% | $20,052 | 77% |
| 12 | Aurora University Aurora, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Graphic Design | — | 60% | $18,431 | 81% |
| 13 | Lincoln Land Community College Springfield, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Graphic Design | — | 48% | — | — |
| 14 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Graphic Design | — | 73% | $14,960 | 63% |
| 15 | Moraine Valley Community College Palos Hills, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Graphic Design | — | 40% | — | — |
| 16 | Roosevelt University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Graphic Design | $19,028 | 35% | $21,085 | 97% |
| 17 | Benedictine University Lisle, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Graphic Design | — | 50% | $23,570 | 95% |
| 18 | Oakton College Des Plaines, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 9 | Graphic Design | — | 37% | — | — |
| 19 | College of Lake County Grayslake, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Graphic Design | — | 37% | — | — |
| 20 | William Rainey Harper College Palatine, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Graphic Design | — | 48% | — | — |
| 21 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Digital Arts | — | 67% | $17,632 | 71% |
| 22 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Graphic Design | $22,893 | 76% | $21,768 | 77% |
| 23 | Greenville University Greenville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Digital Arts | — | 40% | $20,472 | 97% |
| 24 | Quincy University Quincy, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Graphic Design | — | 45% | $17,003 | 51% |
| 25 | Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Graphic Design | — | 58% | $15,126 | 85% |
All 31 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia College Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 71 | 2 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 60 | 1 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 46 | 1 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 34 | 1 |
| Joliet Junior College | Joliet | Public | 30 | 1 |
| Rend Lake College | Ina | Public | 26 | 1 |
| McHenry County College | Crystal Lake | Public | 25 | 1 |
| Elgin Community College | Elgin | Public | 23 | 1 |
| Elmhurst University | Elmhurst | Private not-for-profit | 22 | 2 |
| Northeastern Illinois University | Chicago | Public | 22 | 1 |
| North Central College | Naperville | Private not-for-profit | 21 | 1 |
| Aurora University | Aurora | Private not-for-profit | 17 | 1 |
| Lincoln Land Community College | Springfield | Public | 14 | 1 |
| Augustana College | Rock Island | Private not-for-profit | 13 | 1 |
| Moraine Valley Community College | Palos Hills | Public | 13 | 1 |
What art directors earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $114,850. Illinois pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Illinois employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Illinois
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Art Directors page.
How to become a Art Director
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- Work experience needed
- 5 years or more
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Illinois
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 3 majors mapped to Art Directors3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 50.0102Digital Arts
- 50.0409Graphic Design
- 50.0706Intermedia/Multimedia
Common questions
Answers for people weighing art directors programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become an Art Director?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Graphic Design, which awarded 491 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 93.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Art Director?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Design and Applied Arts, Visual and Performing Arts, Fine and Studio Arts. Together they graduate about 524 people a year in Illinois.
How much do art directors earn in Illinois?+
The median is $103,550 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 9.8% below the U.S. median of $114,850. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for art directors growing?+
BLS projects a +4.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 12,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
31 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 3 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do art directors work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Art Director, Design Director, Creative Services Director, Creative Director (CD Director) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-1011.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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