Best Speech-Language Pathologist programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Assess and treat persons with speech, language, voice, and fluency disorders. May select alternative communication systems and teach their use.
18 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 922 people a year. The job pays a median of $95,080 in Illinois across about 9,040 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.
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.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologistmain feeder CIP 51.0203In Illinois → | 354 | 38.4% | 10 | $24,665 | $22,500 |
| 2 | CIP 51.0204In Illinois → | 304 | 33.0% | 4 | $24,665 | $22,500 |
| 3 | CIP 51.0201In Illinois → | 264 | 28.6% | 8 | $24,665 | $22,500 |
Top 18 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 18 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 · 3 feeder programs | 160 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 2 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 115 | Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | $29,620 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 3 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 110 | Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 65% | — | 88% |
| 4 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 57% | — | 97% |
| 5 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 56 | Communication Sciences and Disorders, General | — | 47% | — | 65% |
| 6 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 7 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 54 | Communication Sciences and Disorders, General | — | 70% | $20,794 | 74% |
| 8 | Saint Xavier University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 53 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 57% | $12,935 | 84% |
| 9 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 46 | Communication Sciences and Disorders, General | $34,136 | 49% | — | 70% |
| 10 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Communication Sciences and Disorders, General | — | 62% | — | 87% |
| 11 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 35 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 73% | $14,960 | 63% |
| 12 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 33 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 67% | $17,632 | 71% |
| 13 | Midwestern University - Downers Grove Downers Grove, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | — | — | — |
| 14 | Governors State University University Park, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 26 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 22% | — | 48% |
| 15 | Rush University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 22 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | — | — | — |
| 16 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Communication Sciences and Disorders, General | — | 45% | — | 71% |
| 17 | College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 6 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 25% | — | — |
| 18 | Trinity Christian College Palos Heights, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 3 | Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist | — | 58% | $15,126 | 85% |
All 18 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 | 160 | 3 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 115 | 1 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 110 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville | Public | 60 | 1 |
| Eastern Illinois University | Charleston | Public | 56 | 1 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 54 | 1 |
| Elmhurst University | Elmhurst | Private not-for-profit | 54 | 1 |
| Saint Xavier University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 53 | 1 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 46 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 40 | 1 |
| Augustana College | Rock Island | Private not-for-profit | 35 | 2 |
| Lewis University | Romeoville | Private not-for-profit | 33 | 1 |
| Midwestern University - Downers Grove | Downers Grove | Private not-for-profit | 28 | 1 |
| Governors State University | University Park | Public | 26 | 2 |
| Rush University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 22 | 1 |
What speech-language pathologists earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $97,870. Illinois pays below the national figure.
Concentrated here: Illinois employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
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 Speech-Language Pathologists page.
How to become a Speech-Language Pathologist
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
- On-the-job training
- Internship/residency
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 4 majors mapped to Speech-Language Pathologists4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 51.0201Communication Sciences and Disorders, General
- 51.0203Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist
- 51.0204Audiology/Audiologist and Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist
- 51.0299Communication Disorders Sciences and Services, Other
Common questions
Answers for people weighing speech-language pathologists programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a Speech-Language Pathologist?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Speech-Language Pathology/Pathologist, which awarded 354 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 38.4% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. Together they graduate about 922 people a year in Illinois.
How much do speech-language pathologists earn in Illinois?+
The median is $95,080 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 2.9% below the U.S. median of $97,870. 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 speech-language pathologists growing?+
BLS projects a +15.0% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 13,300 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
18 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 speech-language pathologists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Speech Pathologist, Speech and Language Specialist, Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP), Bilingual Speech-Language Pathologist (Bilingual SLP) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 29-1127.
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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