Best Tax Preparer programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Prepare tax returns for individuals or small.
81 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,913 people a year. The job pays a median of $54,480 in Illinois across about 1,310 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 | CIP 52.0301In Illinois → | 2,383 | 81.8% | 68 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 2 | CIP 52.0302In Illinois → | 503 | 17.3% | 26 | $51,824 | $24,433 |
| 3 | CIP 52.1601In Illinois → | 27 | 0.9% | 2 | — | — |
Top 25 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 31 of the 81 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeVry University - Illinois Lisle, IL Private for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 370 | Accounting | $54,264 | 37% | $32,381 | 98% |
| 2 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 300 | Accounting | $74,731 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 3 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 253 | Accounting | $69,250 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 4 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 193 | Accounting | $65,680 | 62% | — | 77% |
| 5 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 161 | Accounting | $62,940 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 6 | William Rainey Harper College Palatine, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 139 | Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping | $31,747 | 48% | — | — |
| 7 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 117 | Accounting | $63,743 | 49% | — | 70% |
| 8 | College of DuPage Glen Ellyn, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 111 | Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping | $52,724 | 25% | — | — |
| 9 | City Colleges of Chicago - Harold Washington College Chicago, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 71 | Accounting | — | 26% | — | — |
| 10 | Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Edwardsville, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 68 | Accounting | $49,046 | 57% | — | 97% |
| 11 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 60 | Accounting | $69,965 | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 12 | McHenry County College Crystal Lake, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 55 | Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping | — | 37% | — | — |
| 13 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 51 | Accounting | $54,694 | 62% | — | 87% |
| 14 | Northeastern Illinois University Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 45 | Accounting | $50,475 | 22% | — | 75% |
| 15 | Western Illinois University Macomb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 40 | Accounting | $49,900 | 45% | — | 71% |
| 16 | Roosevelt University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 39 | Accounting | $55,350 | 35% | $21,085 | 97% |
| 17 | Governors State University University Park, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 38 | Accounting | $47,836 | 22% | — | 48% |
| 18 | Dominican University River Forest, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 35 | Accounting | $57,187 | 55% | $16,176 | 90% |
| 19 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 32 | Accounting | $47,616 | 67% | $17,632 | 71% |
| 20 | Lewis and Clark Community College Godfrey, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 31 | Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping | $42,502 | 44% | — | — |
| 21 | Oakton College Des Plaines, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 30 | Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping | — | 37% | — | — |
| 22 | Lake Land College Mattoon, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Accounting | — | 58% | — | — |
| 23 | Saint Xavier University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 28 | Accounting | $49,533 | 57% | $12,935 | 84% |
| 24 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Accounting | $48,070 | 47% | — | 65% |
| 25 | North Central College Naperville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Accounting | $58,717 | 64% | $20,052 | 77% |
All 81 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeVry University - Illinois | Lisle | Private for-profit | 370 | 1 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 300 | 2 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 253 | 2 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 193 | 1 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 161 | 1 |
| William Rainey Harper College | Palatine | Public | 139 | 2 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 117 | 1 |
| College of DuPage | Glen Ellyn | Public | 111 | 1 |
| City Colleges of Chicago - Harold Washington College | Chicago | Public | 71 | 2 |
| Southern Illinois University Edwardsville | Edwardsville | Public | 68 | 1 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 60 | 1 |
| McHenry County College | Crystal Lake | Public | 55 | 2 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 51 | 1 |
| Northeastern Illinois University | Chicago | Public | 45 | 1 |
| Western Illinois University | Macomb | Public | 40 | 1 |
What tax preparers earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $54,920. 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 Tax Preparers page.
How to become a Tax Preparer
Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Moderate-term on-the-job training
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
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 3 majors mapped to Tax Preparers3 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 52.0301Accounting
- 52.0302Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping
- 52.1601Taxation
Common questions
Answers for people weighing tax preparers programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become a Tax Preparer?+
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 Accounting, which awarded 2,383 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 81.8% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Tax Preparer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Accounting and Related Services, Taxation. Together they graduate about 2,913 people a year in Illinois.
How much do tax preparers earn in Illinois?+
The median is $54,480 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 0.8% below the U.S. median of $54,920. 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 tax preparers growing?+
BLS projects a +4.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 10,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
81 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 tax preparers work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Tax Advisor, Tax Preparer, Enrolled Agent, CPA (Certified Public Accountant) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-2082.
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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