Illinois·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-2099

Best Financial Specialist, All Other programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment

All financial specialists not listed.

35 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,157 people a year. The job pays a median of $81,180 in Illinois across about 5,850 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledInvestigatorPortfolio ManagerForensic AccountantQuantitative AnalystInvestment StrategistQuantitative Equity AnalystCertified Fraud Examiner (CFE)Special Investigations Unit Investigator (SIU Investigator)
Graduates / yr
2,157
in Illinois
Median pay · Illinois
$81,180
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
5,850
people employed
Schools
35
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
61%
across those schools
Median net price
$18,431
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.

3 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 52.0801In Illinois
1,556
72.1%
32$53,572$23,672
2
CIP 27.0305In Illinois
466
21.6%
6$60,930$21,143
3
CIP 52.0206In Illinois
135
6.3%
6$43,506$25,000

Top 25 schools in Illinois

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 23 of the 35 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign
Champaign, IL Public · 2 feeder programs
459Finance, General$75,38185%42%
2DePaul University
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
304Finance, General$66,86368%$28,14176%
3University of Illinois Chicago
Chicago, IL Public · 2 feeder programs
265Finance, General$55,59162%77%
4Illinois State University
Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
168Finance, General$54,95865%88%
5University of Chicago
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
168Financial Mathematics96%$13,3334%
6Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
104Finance, General$66,91973%$33,45482%
7DeVry University - Illinois
Lisle, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs
87Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management$55,10237%$32,38198%
8Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL Public · 2 feeder programs
81Finance, General$54,80249%70%
9Lewis University
Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
42Finance, General$52,74267%$17,63271%
10Bradley University
Peoria, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
39Finance, General$54,26176%$21,76877%
11Northwestern University
Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
38Finance, General95%$14,7998%
12Northeastern Illinois University
Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
35Finance, General$48,80722%75%
13North Central College
Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
32Finance, General$51,42064%$20,05277%
14Lake Forest College
Lake Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
30Finance, General$61,26478%$25,05257%
15Elmhurst University
Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
29Finance, General$57,17170%$20,79474%
16Illinois Wesleyan University
Bloomington, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
29Finance, General$62,61975%$26,84939%
17Augustana College
Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
27Finance, General73%$14,96063%
18Aurora University
Aurora, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
22Finance, General$51,43760%$18,43181%
19Saint Xavier University
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
22Finance, General$46,45257%$12,93584%
20Roosevelt University
Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
21Finance, General$50,15835%$21,08597%
21Southern Illinois University - Carbondale
Carbondale, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
21Finance, General$48,70862%87%
22Eastern Illinois University
Charleston, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
19Finance, General$51,37047%65%
23University of Illinois Springfield
Springfield, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
19Financial Mathematics53%86%
24Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs
19Finance, General45%71%
25Dominican University
River Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
17Finance, General55%$16,17690%

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.

All schools in Illinois that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Illinois Urbana - ChampaignChampaignPublic4592
DePaul UniversityChicagoPrivate not-for-profit3043
University of Illinois ChicagoChicagoPublic2652
Illinois State UniversityNormalPublic1681
University of ChicagoChicagoPrivate not-for-profit1683
Loyola University ChicagoChicagoPrivate not-for-profit1041
DeVry University - IllinoisLislePrivate for-profit871
Northern Illinois UniversityDekalbPublic812
Lewis UniversityRomeovillePrivate not-for-profit421
Bradley UniversityPeoriaPrivate not-for-profit392
Northwestern UniversityEvanstonPrivate not-for-profit381
Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicagoPublic351
North Central CollegeNapervillePrivate not-for-profit321
Lake Forest CollegeLake ForestPrivate not-for-profit301
Elmhurst UniversityElmhurstPrivate not-for-profit291

What financial specialists, all other earn in Illinois

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

Median annual in Illinois
$81,180
Mean annual
$91,460
Jobs in state
5,850
What the range looks like
10th pct$50,240Median$81,18090th pct$147,230
Versus the national median
+0.1%

U.S. median $81,100. Illinois pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.13×

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

Metro areas in Illinois

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
$81,740median
4,630 jobs
Bloomington, IL
$62,680median
40 jobs
Peoria, IL
$78,900median
100 jobs
Springfield, IL
$69,240median
70 jobs
Rockford, IL
$66,320median
30 jobs
Champaign-Urbana, IL
$71,010median
50 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+3.1%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
10,300
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
4,300
137,100 → 141,400
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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 Specialists, All Other page.

How to become a Financial Specialist, All Other

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Bachelor's 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

Critical ThinkingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingWritingActive 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 4 majors mapped to Financial Specialists, All Other4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 27.0305Financial Mathematics
  • 39.0801Religious Institution Administration and Management
  • 52.0206Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management
  • 52.0801Finance, General

Common questions

Answers for people weighing financial specialists, all other programs in Illinois.

What degree do you need to become a Financial Specialist, All Other?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Finance, General, which awarded 1,556 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 72.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Financial Specialist, All Other?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Finance and Financial Management Services, Applied Mathematics, Business Administration. Together they graduate about 2,157 people a year in Illinois.

How much do financial specialists, all other earn in Illinois?+

The median is $81,180 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.1% above the U.S. median of $81,100. 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 specialists, all other growing?+

BLS projects a +3.1% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,300 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 3 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 specialists, all other work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Investigator, Portfolio Manager, Forensic Accountant, Quantitative Analyst, Investment Strategist, Quantitative Equity Analyst among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2099.

Financial Specialists, All Other in other statesTexasFloridaOhioNew YorkPennsylvaniaMassachusettsNew JerseyIndiana

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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