Which Illinois human development and family studies program has the lowest debt?

UIC reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,500, with first-year pay of $36,743.

How much do human development and family studies graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 5 Illinois human development and family studies bachelor's programs is $33,682 in the first year after graduating and $47,391 five years after.

Human Development and Family Studies (Bachelor's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many human development and family studies bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

5 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

5 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois human development and family studies bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,682 in their first year, $139 more than the national median. National Louis University reports the highest first-year pay ($46,954), and UIC the lowest median debt ($17,500).

Median first-year pay$33,682National $33,543

Median pay after 5 years$47,391National $45,741

Median federal debt$23,125National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings66%National 73%

All 5 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	National Louis UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$46,954	$41,543	$28,096	60%
2	UICChicago · public	$36,743	Not reported	$17,500	48%
3	Illinois StateNormal · public	$33,682	Not reported	$23,125	69%
4	UIUCChampaign · public	$29,762	$64,921	$19,600	66%
5	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$28,342	$45,830	$31,000	109%

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois human development and family studies 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 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

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 human development and family studies, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Childcare Workers

$35,830

Median pay in Illinois. 23,900 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 150,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $31,200Top 10%: $44,980

Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education

$40,910

Median pay in Illinois. 22,420 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 66,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: associate's degree.

Bottom 10%: $36,030Top 10%: $60,890

Social and Human Service Assistants

$46,950

Median pay in Illinois. 22,220 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 48,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $35,030Top 10%: $72,780

Farm and Home Management Educators

$60,220

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 800 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

National Louis University in Chicago reports the highest median first-year pay, $46,954. Its median federal debt is $28,096.

Human Development and Family Studies (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked143 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 human development and family studies 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