Illinois·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-1041

Best Compliance Officer programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment

Examine, evaluate, and investigate eligibility for or conformity with laws and regulations governing contract compliance of licenses and permits, and perform other compliance and enforcement inspection and analysis activities not.

50 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,479 people a year. The job pays a median of $80,550 in Illinois across about 10,650 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledCoronerCustoms BrokerLicense ExaminerMedical ExaminerHousing InspectorEnforcement OfficerMotor Vehicle ClerkRegulatory Engineer
Graduates / yr
1,479
in Illinois
Median pay · Illinois
$80,550
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
10,650
people employed
Schools
50
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
56%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,794
per year, IPEDS

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.

6 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.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.1001In Illinois
759
51.3%
30$49,084$26,536
2
CIP 03.0104In Illinois
326
22.0%
16$34,020$23,032
3
CIP 03.0103In Illinois
241
16.3%
19$34,020$23,032
4
CIP 52.1002In Illinois
148
10.0%
1$49,084$26,536
5
CIP 03.0208In Illinois
3
0.2%
1$37,946$24,125
6
CIP 03.0209In Illinois
2
0.1%
1$37,946$24,125

Top 25 schools in Illinois

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 50 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1DeVry University - Illinois
Lisle, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
359Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General37%$32,38198%
2University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign
Champaign, IL Public · 3 feeder programs
269Labor and Industrial Relations85%42%
3Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
134Environmental Science$30,79773%$33,45482%
4University of Illinois Springfield
Springfield, IL Public · 3 feeder programs
66Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General53%86%
5William Rainey Harper College
Palatine, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
44Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General48%
6University of Chicago
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
43Environmental Studies96%$13,3334%
7University of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
42Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General62%77%
8DePaul University
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
35Environmental Studies$26,38168%$28,14176%
9Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
27Environmental Studies$36,40949%70%
10Joliet Junior College
Joliet, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
26Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General21%
11Southern Illinois University - Carbondale
Carbondale, IL Public · 2 feeder programs
26Environmental Studies62%87%
12College of DuPage
Glen Ellyn, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
24Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General25%
13National Louis University
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
23Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General30%$18,90495%
14North Central College
Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
23Environmental Studies64%$20,05277%
15Northwestern University
Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
21Environmental Science95%$14,7998%
16Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
21Environmental Science57%97%
17Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL Public · 2 feeder programs
21Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$47,46745%71%
18Knox College
Galesburg, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
20Environmental Science$28,75768%$24,24071%
19Illinois State University
Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
19Environmental Science65%88%
20Roosevelt University
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
16Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General35%$21,08597%
21Governors State University
University Park, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
15Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General22%48%
22Lewis University
Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
15Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$50,36167%$17,63271%
23Stautzenberger College - Rockford Career College
Rockford, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
15Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General66%$20,078
24Augustana College
Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
14Environmental Studies$35,66973%$14,96063%
25Lewis and Clark Community College
Godfrey, IL Public · 2 feeder programs
14Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General44%

All 50 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.

All schools in Illinois that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
DeVry University - IllinoisLislePrivate for-profit3591
University of Illinois Urbana - ChampaignChampaignPublic2693
Loyola University ChicagoChicagoPrivate not-for-profit1344
University of Illinois SpringfieldSpringfieldPublic663
William Rainey Harper CollegePalatinePublic441
University of ChicagoChicagoPrivate not-for-profit431
University of Illinois ChicagoChicagoPublic421
DePaul UniversityChicagoPrivate not-for-profit352
Northern Illinois UniversityDekalbPublic271
Joliet Junior CollegeJolietPublic261
Southern Illinois University - CarbondaleCarbondalePublic262
College of DuPageGlen EllynPublic241
National Louis UniversityChicagoPrivate not-for-profit231
North Central CollegeNapervillePrivate not-for-profit232
Northwestern UniversityEvanstonPrivate not-for-profit211

What compliance officers earn in Illinois

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Illinois
$80,550
Mean annual
$87,900
Jobs in state
10,650
What the range looks like
10th pct$50,040Median$80,55090th pct$132,290
Versus the national median
-0.2%

U.S. median $80,730. Illinois pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.65×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Illinois

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
$82,020median
8,320 jobs
Peoria, IL
$77,830median
190 jobs
Springfield, IL
$76,790median
240 jobs
Kankakee, IL
$76,530median
50 jobs
Champaign-Urbana, IL
$72,560median
140 jobs
Bloomington, IL
$64,030median
240 jobs
Rockford, IL
$63,890median
180 jobs
Decatur, IL
$62,810median
70 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.0%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
33,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
12,300
418,000 → 430,300
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus moderate-term on-the-job training

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 Compliance Officers page.

How to become a Compliance Officer

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

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

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingWritingActive Learning

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 11 majors mapped to Compliance Officers10 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 03.0103Environmental Studies
  • 03.0104Environmental Science
  • 03.0208Environmental/Natural Resources Law Enforcement and Protective Services
  • 03.0209Energy and Environmental Policy
  • 30.4101Environmental Geosciences
  • 43.0121Suspension and Debarment Investigation(no graduates reported)
  • 51.0717Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician
  • 51.0720Regulatory Science/Affairs
  • 51.2213Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality
  • 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
  • 52.1002Labor and Industrial Relations

Common questions

Answers for people weighing compliance officers programs in Illinois.

What degree do you need to become a Compliance Officer?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General, which awarded 759 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 51.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Compliance Officer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Human Resources Management and Services, Natural Resources Conservation and Research, Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy. Together they graduate about 1,479 people a year in Illinois.

How much do compliance officers earn in Illinois?+

The median is $80,550 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.2% below the U.S. median of $80,730. 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 compliance officers growing?+

BLS projects a +3.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 33,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+

50 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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 compliance officers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Coroner, Customs Broker, License Examiner, Medical Examiner, Housing Inspector, Enforcement Officer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1041.

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, 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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