Best English Language programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Teach courses in English language and literature, including linguistics and comparative literature.
48 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,382 people a year. The job pays a median of $77,570 in Illinois across about 2,570 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.
10 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 23.0101In Illinois → | 953 | 69.0% | 45 | $29,622 | $24,546 |
| 2 | CIP 23.1302In Illinois → | 191 | 13.8% | 13 | $28,725 | $25,250 |
| 3 | CIP 13.1305In Illinois → | 105 | 7.6% | 12 | $43,033 | $26,044 |
| 4 | CIP 23.1304In Illinois → | 55 | 4.0% | 4 | $28,725 | $25,250 |
| 5 | CIP 23.1301In Illinois → | 40 | 2.9% | 6 | $28,725 | $25,250 |
| 6 | CIP 23.1303In Illinois → | 14 | 1.0% | 3 | $28,725 | $25,250 |
| 7 | CIP 16.0104In Illinois → | 13 | 0.9% | 3 | $27,449 | $20,824 |
| 8 | CIP 23.1405In Illinois → | 6 | 0.4% | 1 | $23,868 | $26,552 |
| 9 | CIP 23.1401In Illinois → | 3 | 0.2% | 1 | $23,868 | $26,552 |
| 10 | CIP 23.9999In Illinois → | 2 | 0.1% | 1 | $24,239 | $25,500 |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 22 of the 48 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 125 | English Language and Literature, General | $31,066 | 62% | — | 77% |
| 2 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 123 | English Language and Literature, General | $28,660 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 3 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 4 feeder programs | 122 | English Language and Literature, General | $37,031 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 4 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 107 | English Language and Literature, General | $39,563 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 5 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 83 | English Language and Literature, General | $31,933 | 47% | — | 65% |
| 6 | Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 73 | Creative Writing | $25,060 | 52% | $28,087 | 89% |
| 7 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 66 | English Language and Literature, General | $28,640 | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 8 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 66 | English Language and Literature, General | $31,748 | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 9 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 59 | English Language and Literature, General | $34,122 | 49% | — | 70% |
| 10 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 49 | English Language and Literature, General | $44,397 | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 11 | Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 44 | English Language and Literature, General | $32,723 | 85% | $23,461 | 87% |
| 12 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | English Language and Literature, General | $31,420 | 57% | — | 97% |
| 13 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 37 | English Language and Literature, General | $33,947 | 70% | $20,794 | 74% |
| 14 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 3 feeder programs | 34 | English Language and Literature, General | $24,145 | 62% | — | 87% |
| 15 | School of the Art Institute of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 29 | Creative Writing | — | 67% | $48,998 | 77% |
| 16 | Knox College Galesburg, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 24 | Creative Writing | $15,466 | 68% | $24,240 | 71% |
| 17 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 22 | Writing, General | — | 64% | $20,052 | 77% |
| 18 | University of Illinois Springfield Springfield, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 22 | English Language and Literature, General | $39,358 | 53% | — | 86% |
| 19 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | English Language and Literature, General | $36,594 | 22% | — | 75% |
| 20 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | English Language and Literature, General | $30,652 | 45% | — | 71% |
| 21 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 17 | English Language and Literature, General | — | 76% | $21,768 | 77% |
| 22 | Dominican University River Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 16 | English Language and Literature, General | — | 55% | $16,176 | 90% |
| 23 | College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 14 | Creative Writing | — | 25% | — | — |
| 24 | Saint Xavier University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 14 | English/Language Arts Teacher Education | $46,835 | 57% | $12,935 | 84% |
| 25 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 13 | English Language and Literature, General | — | 73% | $14,960 | 63% |
All 48 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 Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 125 | 2 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 123 | 5 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 122 | 4 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 107 | 2 |
| Eastern Illinois University | Charleston | Public | 83 | 2 |
| Columbia College Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 73 | 2 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 66 | 3 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston | Private not-for-profit | 66 | 4 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 59 | 1 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 49 | 3 |
| Wheaton College | Wheaton | Private not-for-profit | 44 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville | Public | 43 | 1 |
| Elmhurst University | Elmhurst | Private not-for-profit | 37 | 3 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 34 | 3 |
| School of the Art Institute of Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 29 | 1 |
What english language and literature teachers, postsecondary earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $78,760. Illinois pays below 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 English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary page.
How to become a English Language
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 21 majors mapped to English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary19 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 13.1305English/Language Arts Teacher Education
- 16.0104Comparative Literature
- 23.0101English Language and Literature, General
- 23.1301Writing, General
- 23.1302Creative Writing
- 23.1303Professional, Technical, Business, and Scientific Writing
- 23.1304Rhetoric and Composition
- 23.1399Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Other
- 23.1401General Literature
- 23.1402American Literature (United States)
- 23.1403American Literature (Canadian)(no graduates reported)
- 23.1404English Literature (British and Commonwealth)
- 23.1405Children's and Adolescent Literature
- 23.1499Literature, Other
- 23.9999English Language and Literature/Letters, Other
- 30.3601Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature
- 30.4701Linguistics and Anthropology
- 30.4801Linguistics and Computer Science
- 30.5201Digital Humanities and Textual Studies, General
- 30.5202Digital Humanities
- 30.5203Textual Studies(no graduates reported)
Common questions
Answers for people weighing english language and literature teachers, postsecondary programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become an English Language?+
Doctoral or professional degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is English Language and Literature, General, which awarded 953 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 69.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an English Language?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 10 programs to this occupation. The largest are English Language and Literature, Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies, Teacher Education and Professional Development, Linguistic, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 1,382 people a year in Illinois.
How much do english language and literature teachers, postsecondary earn in Illinois?+
The median is $77,570 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.5% below the U.S. median of $78,760. 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 english language and literature teachers, postsecondary growing?+
BLS projects a +0.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, little or no change, with roughly 5,100 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
48 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 10 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 english language and literature teachers, postsecondary work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Professor, Instructor, English Professor, English Instructor among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 25-1123.
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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