Illinois·Office and Administrative Support Occupations·SOC 43-4061

Best Eligibility Interviewer, Government Programs programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment

Determine eligibility of persons applying to receive assistance from government programs and agency resources, such as welfare, unemployment benefits, social security, and public.

4 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 92 people a year. The job pays a median of $61,840 in Illinois across about 1,740 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledEligibility WorkerEligibility SpecialistSocial Welfare Examiner (SWEX)Workforce Services Representative (WSR)InterviewerCase ManagerIntake ClerkContact Agent
Graduates / yr
92
in Illinois
Median pay · Illinois
$61,840
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,740
people employed
Schools
4
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
73%
across those schools
Median net price
$28,141
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.

1 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 44.0201In Illinois
92
100.0%
4$39,102$27,000

Top 4 schools in Illinois

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 4 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Northwestern University
Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
71Community Organization and Advocacy$61,00995%$14,7998%
2DePaul University
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Community Organization and Advocacy68%$28,14176%
3University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign
Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
6Community Organization and Advocacy85%42%
4Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
6Community Organization and Advocacy45%71%

All 4 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
Northwestern UniversityEvanstonPrivate not-for-profit711
DePaul UniversityChicagoPrivate not-for-profit91
University of Illinois Urbana - ChampaignChampaignPublic61
Western Illinois UniversityMacombPublic61

What eligibility interviewers, government programs earn in Illinois

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

Median annual in Illinois
$61,840
Mean annual
$62,740
Jobs in state
1,740
What the range looks like
10th pct$45,590Median$61,84090th pct$81,590
Versus the national median
+14.1%

U.S. median $54,210. Illinois pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.29×

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

Metro areas in Illinois

Rockford, IL
$59,990median
50 jobs
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
$62,390median
1,210 jobs
Springfield, IL
$57,590median
70 jobs
Peoria, IL
avg
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+1.0%
Little or no change
Openings per year
14,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
1,700
166,800 → 168,500
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
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 Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs page.

How to become a Eligibility Interviewer, Government Programs

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-term on-the-job training

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

SpeakingActive ListeningReading ComprehensionWritingCritical ThinkingMonitoring

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 1 majors mapped to Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 44.0201Community Organization and Advocacy

Common questions

Answers for people weighing eligibility interviewers, government programs programs in Illinois.

What degree do you need to become an Eligibility Interviewer, Government Programs?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Community Organization and Advocacy, which awarded 92 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming an Eligibility Interviewer, Government Programs?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Community Organization and Advocacy. Together they graduate about 92 people a year in Illinois.

How much do eligibility interviewers, government programs earn in Illinois?+

The median is $61,840 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 14.1% above the U.S. median of $54,210. 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 eligibility interviewers, government programs growing?+

BLS projects a +1.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 14,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

4 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 1 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 eligibility interviewers, government programs work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Eligibility Worker, Eligibility Specialist, Social Welfare Examiner (SWEX), Workforce Services Representative (WSR) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-4061.

Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs in other statesArizonaNew YorkMichiganMassachusettsIdahoLouisianaMinnesotaIndiana

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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