Which Illinois computer and information science program has the lowest debt?

UIUC reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,399, with first-year pay of $113,503.

How much do computer and information science graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 12 Illinois computer and information science bachelor's programs is $57,032 in the first year after graduating and $73,734 five years after.

Computer and Information Science (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many computer and information science bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

12 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

12 programs report first-year pay
11 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Computer and Information Sciences, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois computer and information science bachelor's program pays its graduates $57,032 in their first year, $3,656 less than the national median. UIUC reports the highest first-year pay ($113,503), and UIUC the lowest median debt ($19,399).

Median first-year pay$57,032National $60,688

Median pay after 5 years$73,734National $87,830

Median federal debt$24,321National $24,750

Debt-to-earnings40%National 40%

All 12 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	UIUCChampaign · public	$113,503	Not reported	$19,399	17%
2	Loyola ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$68,950	Not reported	$22,701	33%
3	Illinois StateNormal · public	$65,127	$84,395	$22,250	34%
4	Western Illinois UniversityMacomb · public	$62,578	$73,734	$25,250	40%
5	Illinois Institute of TechnologyChicago · private nonprofit	$61,313	$101,049	$24,750	40%
6	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$58,220	$88,092	$24,321	42%
7	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$55,844	$85,645	$23,966	43%
8	Governors StateUniversity Park · public	$48,567	$62,049	$19,400	40%
9	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$46,254	Not reported	$29,553	64%
10	Roosevelt UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$42,779	$56,342	Not reported	Not reported
11	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston · public	$42,284	$63,486	$26,000	61%
12	Saint Xavier UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$31,970	$60,076	$26,040	81%

Roosevelt University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois computer and information science program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Illinois medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

UIUC$19,399
Governors State$19,400
Illinois State$22,250
Loyola Chicago$22,701
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville$23,966

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to computer and information science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Software Developers

$132,110

Median pay in Illinois. 56,310 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $80,980Top 10%: $194,740

Computer and Information Systems Managers

$171,730

Median pay in Illinois. 31,680 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $105,350Top 10%: $273,500

Computer Systems Analysts

$101,570

Median pay in Illinois. 20,610 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $60,770Top 10%: $144,790

Network and Computer Systems Administrators

$100,080

Median pay in Illinois. 9,820 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $65,650Top 10%: $157,800

Common questions

UIUC in Champaign reports the highest median first-year pay, $113,503. Its median federal debt is $19,399.

Computer and Information Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked402 programs by pay and debt

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.
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.
Medians are across the computer and information science bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024