Which Illinois journalism program has the lowest debt?

Northwestern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,333, with first-year pay of $50,426.

How much do journalism graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 8 Illinois journalism bachelor's programs is $37,016 in the first year after graduating and $49,778 five years after.

How many journalism bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

8 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

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

8 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Journalism

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois journalism bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,016 in their first year, $2,501 more than the national median. Northwestern University reports the highest first-year pay ($50,426), and Northwestern University the lowest median debt ($15,333).

Median first-year pay$37,016National $34,515

Median pay after 5 years$49,778National $53,282

Median federal debt$23,917National $24,500

Debt-to-earnings63%National 67%

All 8 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	$50,426	$72,140	$15,333	30%
2	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$40,575	$46,940	$25,500	63%
3	Loyola ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$38,302	$55,384	$23,000	60%
4	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$37,388	$55,947	$24,334	65%
5	Illinois StateNormal · public	$36,643	$48,505	$23,500	64%
6	UIUCChampaign · public	$36,303	$57,331	$22,300	61%
7	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$31,753	$47,283	$25,750	81%
8	Columbia College ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$31,369	$49,778	$26,000	83%

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois journalism 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 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Northwestern University$50,426
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale$40,575
Loyola Chicago$38,302
DePaul University$37,388
Illinois State$36,643

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

Northwestern University30%
Loyola Chicago60%
UIUC61%
Southern Illinois University-Carbondale63%
Illinois State64%

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

Editors

$76,060

Median pay in Illinois. 4,560 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $46,410Top 10%: $107,850

Photographers

$36,570

Median pay in Illinois. 2,150 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $31,200Top 10%: $96,770

Writers and Authors

$68,220

Median pay in Illinois. 2,640 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $41,830Top 10%: $134,400

News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists

$60,590

Median pay in Illinois. 1,060 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $36,680Top 10%: $140,620

Common questions

Northwestern University in Evanston reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,426. Its median federal debt is $15,333.

Journalism (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked170 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 journalism 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