Best Financial Risk Specialist programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Analyze and measure exposure to credit and market risk threatening the assets, earning capacity, or economic state of an organization.
75 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 4,938 people a year. The job pays a median of $104,300 in Illinois across about 2,920 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.
8 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 52.0301In Illinois → | 2,383 | 48.3% | 68 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0801In Illinois → | 1,556 | 31.5% | 32 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
| 3 | CIP 27.0305In Illinois → | 466 | 9.4% | 6 | $60,930 | $21,143 |
| 4 | CIP 52.0304In Illinois → | 240 | 4.9% | 1 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 5 | CIP 52.0601In Illinois → | 156 | 3.2% | 7 | $53,269 | $21,962 |
| 6 | CIP 52.1304In Illinois → | 99 | 2.0% | 10 | $62,069 | $23,500 |
| 7 | CIP 52.0305In Illinois → | 28 | 0.6% | 3 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 8 | CIP 52.0806In Illinois → | 10 | 0.2% | 1 | $53,572 | $23,672 |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 31 of the 75 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 4 feeder programs | 822 | Accounting | $74,731 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 2 | DeVry University - Illinois Lisle, IL Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 610 | Accounting | $54,264 | 37% | $32,381 | 98% |
| 3 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 565 | Accounting | $69,250 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 4 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 3 feeder programs | 458 | Finance, General | $55,591 | 62% | — | 77% |
| 5 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 329 | Finance, General | $54,958 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 6 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 4 feeder programs | 200 | Accounting | $63,743 | 49% | — | 70% |
| 7 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 195 | Finance, General | $66,919 | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 8 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 164 | Financial Mathematics | — | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 9 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 80 | Accounting | $50,475 | 22% | — | 75% |
| 10 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 72 | Accounting | $54,694 | 62% | — | 87% |
| 11 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 71 | Finance, General | $52,742 | 67% | $17,632 | 71% |
| 12 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 68 | Accounting | $49,046 | 57% | — | 97% |
| 13 | City Colleges of Chicago - Harold Washington College Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 67 | Accounting | — | 26% | — | — |
| 14 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 67 | Finance, General | — | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 15 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 64 | Finance, General | $51,420 | 64% | $20,052 | 77% |
| 16 | Roosevelt University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 62 | Accounting | $55,350 | 35% | $21,085 | 97% |
| 17 | Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 61 | Business/Managerial Economics | $55,300 | 85% | $23,461 | 87% |
| 18 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 59 | Accounting | $49,900 | 45% | — | 71% |
| 19 | Dominican University River Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 52 | Accounting | $57,187 | 55% | $16,176 | 90% |
| 20 | Aurora University Aurora, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 50 | Accounting | $50,086 | 60% | $18,431 | 81% |
| 21 | Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 50 | Finance, General | $62,619 | 75% | $26,849 | 39% |
| 22 | Saint Xavier University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 50 | Accounting | $49,533 | 57% | $12,935 | 84% |
| 23 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 49 | Finance, General | $57,171 | 70% | $20,794 | 74% |
| 24 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs | 46 | Accounting | $65,842 | 76% | $21,768 | 77% |
| 25 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 46 | Accounting | $48,070 | 47% | — | 65% |
All 75 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 Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 822 | 4 |
| DeVry University - Illinois | Lisle | Private for-profit | 610 | 2 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 565 | 5 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 458 | 3 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 329 | 2 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 200 | 4 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 195 | 3 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 164 | 3 |
| Northeastern Illinois University | Chicago | Public | 80 | 2 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 72 | 2 |
| Lewis University | Romeoville | Private not-for-profit | 71 | 3 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville | Public | 68 | 1 |
| City Colleges of Chicago - Harold Washington College | Chicago | Public | 67 | 1 |
| Northwestern University | Evanston | Private not-for-profit | 67 | 2 |
| North Central College | Naperville | Private not-for-profit | 64 | 3 |
What financial risk specialists earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $117,330. 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 Financial Risk Specialists page.
How to become a Financial Risk Specialist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
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.
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 12 majors mapped to Financial Risk Specialists12 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 27.0305Financial Mathematics
- 52.0215Risk Management
- 52.0301Accounting
- 52.0304Accounting and Finance
- 52.0305Accounting and Business/Management
- 52.0601Business/Managerial Economics
- 52.0801Finance, General
- 52.0806International Finance
- 52.0807Investments and Securities
- 52.0808Public Finance
- 52.0810Financial Risk Management
- 52.1304Actuarial Science
Common questions
Answers for people weighing financial risk specialists programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a Financial Risk Specialist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Accounting, which awarded 2,383 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 48.3% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Financial Risk Specialist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 8 programs to this occupation. The largest are Accounting and Related Services, Finance and Financial Management Services, Applied Mathematics, Business/Managerial Economics, plus 1 more. Together they graduate about 4,938 people a year in Illinois.
How much do financial risk specialists earn in Illinois?+
The median is $104,300 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 11.1% below the U.S. median of $117,330. 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 financial risk specialists growing?+
BLS projects a +6.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 4,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
75 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 8 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 financial risk specialists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Analyst, Risk Analyst, Risk Specialist, Securities Analyst among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2054.
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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