Best Media programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
All media and communication workers not listed.
39 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,600 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,730 in Illinois across about — 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.
2 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 09.0702In Illinois → | 977 | 61.1% | 20 | $29,112 | $23,836 |
| 2 | CIP 09.0101In Illinois → | 623 | 38.9% | 24 | $34,858 | $25,000 |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 20 of the 39 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 721 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | $24,611 | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 2 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 107 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,125 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 3 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 99 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $38,490 | 49% | — | 70% |
| 4 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 64 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | $26,227 | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 5 | Illinois Media School - Chicago Campus Chicago, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | $18,740 | 61% | $25,472 | — |
| 6 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 52 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $34,453 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 7 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 8 | College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 25% | — | — |
| 9 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 37 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $36,569 | 57% | — | 97% |
| 10 | Lewis and Clark Community College Godfrey, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 34 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 44% | — | — |
| 11 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $34,142 | 45% | — | 71% |
| 12 | Illinois Media School Chicago, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | $18,740 | 80% | $30,188 | — |
| 13 | Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 26 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $39,321 | 85% | $23,461 | 87% |
| 14 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $32,465 | 62% | — | 87% |
| 15 | Saint Xavier University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 23 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $32,169 | 57% | $12,935 | 84% |
| 16 | Aurora University Aurora, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $30,728 | 60% | $18,431 | 81% |
| 17 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 85% | — | 42% |
| 18 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | — | 47% | — | 65% |
| 19 | Lake Forest College Lake Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 20 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $42,835 | 78% | $25,052 | 57% |
| 20 | Benedictine University Lisle, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $30,334 | 50% | $23,570 | 95% |
| 21 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 16 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $40,806 | 73% | $14,960 | 63% |
| 22 | DeVry University - Illinois Lisle, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $47,622 | 37% | $32,381 | 98% |
| 23 | McKendree University Lebanon, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 13 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | — | 53% | $23,994 | 72% |
| 24 | Columbia College Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 12 | Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia | $24,191 | 52% | $28,087 | 89% |
| 25 | Governors State University University Park, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 11 | Speech Communication and Rhetoric | $27,071 | 22% | — | 48% |
All 39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern University | Evanston | Private not-for-profit | 721 | 2 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 107 | 1 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 99 | 1 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 64 | 2 |
| Illinois Media School - Chicago Campus | Chicago | Private for-profit | 60 | 1 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 52 | 2 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 45 | 1 |
| College of DuPage | Glen Ellyn | Public | 40 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville | Public | 37 | 1 |
| Lewis and Clark Community College | Godfrey | Public | 34 | 1 |
| Western Illinois University | Macomb | Public | 28 | 1 |
| Illinois Media School | Chicago | Private for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Wheaton College | Wheaton | Private not-for-profit | 26 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 24 | 1 |
| Saint Xavier University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 23 | 2 |
What media and communication workers, all other earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $73,620. Illinois pays below the national figure.
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 Media and Communication Workers, All Other page.
How to become a Media
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job 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 3 majors mapped to Media and Communication Workers, All Other3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 09.0101Speech Communication and Rhetoric
- 09.0702Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia
- 10.0105Communications Technology/Technician
Common questions
Answers for people weighing media and communication workers, all other programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a Media?+
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 Digital Communication and Media/Multimedia, which awarded 977 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 61.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Media?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Radio, Communication and Media Studies. Together they graduate about 1,600 people a year in Illinois.
How much do media and communication workers, all other earn in Illinois?+
The median is $60,730 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 17.5% below the U.S. median of $73,620. 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 media and communication workers, all other growing?+
BLS projects a +2.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 3,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
39 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 2 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.
Do you need training or experience beyond a degree?+
BLS lists 'None' for related work experience and 'Short-term on-the-job training' for on-the-job training typically needed to reach competency.
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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