Which Illinois history program has the lowest debt?

Northwestern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,917, with first-year pay of $50,161.

How much do history graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 13 Illinois history bachelor's programs is $33,288 in the first year after graduating and $48,303 five years after.

How many history bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

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

History (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

13 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in History

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois history bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,288 in their first year, $1,578 more than the national median. Northwestern University reports the highest first-year pay ($50,161), and Northwestern University the lowest median debt ($15,917).

Median first-year pay$33,288National $31,710

Median pay after 5 years$48,303National $50,314

Median federal debt$22,500National $23,973

Debt-to-earnings72%National 73%

All 13 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	Northwestern UniversityEvanston · private nonprofit	$50,161	$70,234	$15,917	32%
2	University of ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$46,616	$64,082	Not reported	Not reported
3	Illinois StateNormal · public	$40,465	$48,171	$23,125	57%
4	Northeastern Illinois UniversityChicago · public	$39,102	$43,591	$19,176	49%
5	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$36,889	$52,601	$27,000	73%
6	University of Illinois SpringfieldSpringfield · public	$33,297	$46,558	$23,892	72%
7	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$33,288	$53,605	$22,500	68%
8	Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston · public	$32,149	$44,527	$21,500	67%
9	Loyola ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$31,079	$63,957	$24,000	77%
10	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$30,101	$43,377	$25,937	86%
11	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$26,916	$46,076	$21,500	80%
12	UICChicago · public	$26,474	$53,943	$19,500	74%
13	UIUCChampaign · public	$26,436	$58,586	$19,000	72%

University of Chicago reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois history 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 12 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Northwestern University$50,161
University of Chicago$46,616
Illinois State$40,465
Northeastern Illinois University$39,102
DePaul University$36,889

Lowest median debt

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 history, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$79,990

Median pay in Illinois. 44,670 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,020Top 10%: $135,960

Natural Sciences Managers

$159,670

Median pay in Illinois. 2,810 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $85,210Top 10%: $281,660

Tour and Travel Guides

$36,780

Median pay in Illinois. 1,090 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $31,200Top 10%: $45,930

Museum Technicians and Conservators

$56,720

Median pay in Illinois. 400 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $38,610Top 10%: $96,470

Common questions

Northwestern University in Evanston reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,161. Its median federal debt is $15,917.

History (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked370 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 history 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