Best Economics Teacher, Postsecondary programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses in economics.
35 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,455 people a year. The job pays a median of $124,850 in Illinois across about 460 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.
7 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 45.0603In Illinois → | 1,489 | 60.7% | 12 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
| 2 | CIP 45.0601In Illinois → | 498 | 20.3% | 25 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
| 3 | CIP 01.0103In Illinois → | 279 | 11.4% | 4 | $47,242 | $19,964 |
| 4 | CIP 52.0601In Illinois → | 156 | 6.4% | 7 | $53,269 | $21,962 |
| 5 | CIP 03.0204In Illinois → | 23 | 0.9% | 2 | $37,946 | $24,125 |
| 6 | CIP 51.2007In Illinois → | 7 | 0.3% | 1 | $48,728 | $23,761 |
| 7 | CIP 45.0604In Illinois → | 3 | 0.1% | 1 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 15 of the 35 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 784 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | $92,075 | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 2 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 3 feeder programs | 642 | Economics, General | $58,921 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 3 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 426 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | $84,932 | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 4 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 3 feeder programs | 93 | Economics, General | $37,767 | 62% | — | 77% |
| 5 | Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 81 | Business/Managerial Economics | $55,300 | 85% | $23,461 | 87% |
| 6 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 65 | Business/Managerial Economics | $61,333 | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 7 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 56 | Business/Managerial Economics | $53,682 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 8 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 3 feeder programs | 49 | Agricultural Economics | $40,194 | 62% | — | 87% |
| 9 | Lake Land College Mattoon, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 31 | Agricultural Economics | — | 58% | — | — |
| 10 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 29 | Economics, General | $44,015 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 11 | Lake Forest College Lake Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | $53,529 | 78% | $25,052 | 57% |
| 12 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 27 | Economics, General | $45,386 | 49% | — | 70% |
| 13 | McKendree University Lebanon, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Economics, General | — | 53% | $23,994 | 72% |
| 14 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 14 | Economics, General | $52,728 | 64% | $20,052 | 77% |
| 15 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | — | 45% | — | 71% |
| 16 | Knox College Galesburg, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Econometrics and Quantitative Economics | $23,222 | 68% | $24,240 | 71% |
| 17 | Olivet Nazarene University Bourbonnais, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Economics, General | $54,169 | 61% | $20,903 | 56% |
| 18 | Joliet Junior College Joliet, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Agricultural Economics | — | 21% | — | — |
| 19 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Economics, General | $40,004 | 22% | — | 75% |
| 20 | Benedictine University Lisle, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Business/Managerial Economics | — | 50% | $23,570 | 95% |
| 21 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 8 | Economics, General | — | 70% | $20,794 | 74% |
| 22 | Rockford University Rockford, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Economics, General | — | 47% | $23,077 | 93% |
| 23 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Economics, General | — | 73% | $14,960 | 63% |
| 24 | Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Economics, General | — | 75% | $26,849 | 39% |
| 25 | Principia College Elsah, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 4 | Economics, General | — | 74% | — | — |
All 35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 784 | 3 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 642 | 3 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston | Private not-for-profit | 426 | 2 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 93 | 3 |
| Wheaton College | Wheaton | Private not-for-profit | 81 | 2 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 65 | 3 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 56 | 3 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 49 | 3 |
| Lake Land College | Mattoon | Public | 31 | 1 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 29 | 2 |
| Lake Forest College | Lake Forest | Private not-for-profit | 28 | 1 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 27 | 2 |
| McKendree University | Lebanon | Private not-for-profit | 16 | 1 |
| North Central College | Naperville | Private not-for-profit | 14 | 1 |
| Western Illinois University | Macomb | Public | 14 | 2 |
What economics teachers, postsecondary earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $123,920. Illinois pays above the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
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 Economics Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a Economics Teacher, Postsecondary
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Doctoral or professional degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or 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 15 majors mapped to Economics Teachers, Postsecondary15 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 01.0103Agricultural Economics
- 03.0204Environmental/Natural Resource Economics
- 30.3901Economics and Computer Science
- 30.4001Economics and Foreign Language/Literature
- 30.4901Mathematical Economics
- 30.5101Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
- 45.0601Economics, General
- 45.0602Applied Economics
- 45.0603Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
- 45.0604Development Economics and International Development
- 45.0605International Economics
- 45.0699Economics, Other
- 45.1004Political Economy
- 51.2007Pharmacoeconomics/Pharmaceutical Economics
- 52.0601Business/Managerial Economics
Common questions
Answers for people weighing economics teachers, postsecondary programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become an Economics Teacher, Postsecondary?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Econometrics and Quantitative Economics, which awarded 1,489 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 60.7% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Economics Teacher, Postsecondary?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Economics, Agricultural Business and Management, Business/Managerial Economics, Environmental/Natural Resources Management and Policy, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 2,455 people a year in Illinois.
How much do economics teachers, postsecondary earn in Illinois?+
The median is $124,850 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.8% above the U.S. median of $123,920. 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 economics teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +2.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
35 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 7 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 economics teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, Economics Professor, Economics Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1063.
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
Explore every U.S. college in one conversation
Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card