Which Chicago State major has the lowest debt?

Criminal Justice graduates leave with a median of $32,974 in federal loans, the lowest among 7 Chicago State bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Chicago State cost?

Tuition and fees are $12,754 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $12,335 a year.

How many Chicago State programs report graduate pay?

7 bachelor's programs at Chicago State report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Chicago State Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Chicago State University
Public university
Chicago, IL
1,384 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

7 Chicago State bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($63,869), and Radio, TV, and Digital Media the least ($28,643). The median program pays $42,687.

Tuition and fees$12,754Per year, for all students

Average net price after aid$12,335Per year

Graduation rate15%Within 6 years

Admission rate43%Of applicants

All 7 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Illinois" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Illinois. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Illinois
1	NursingAbout 16 graduates a year	$63,869	$94,672	$51,937	31st of 32
2	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 28 graduates a year	$45,762	$46,102	$54,000	3rd of 11
3	Business AdministrationAbout 43 graduates a year	$42,882	$52,095	$42,394	33rd of 38
4	SociologyAbout 12 graduates a year	$42,687	$44,616	$38,087	1st of 16
5	Criminal JusticeAbout 33 graduates a year	$35,419	$49,094	$32,974	19th of 22
6	PsychologyAbout 51 graduates a year	$29,967	$42,103	$39,075	30th of 35
7	Radio, TV, and Digital MediaAbout 4 graduates a year	$28,643	Not reported	$38,434	3rd of 8

Program names link to the program's own page, and Illinois ranks link to the full ranking for the field.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

2 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Largest programs

PsychologyAbout 51 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 43 graduates a year
Criminal JusticeAbout 33 graduates a year
Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 28 graduates a year
NursingAbout 16 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $63,869 in their first year, the most of 7 Chicago State bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Illinois rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels