Which Illinois liberal arts and general studies program has the lowest debt?

Morton College reports the lowest median federal debt, $5,500, with first-year pay of $31,829.

How much do liberal arts and general studies graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 41 Illinois liberal arts and general studies associate's programs is $27,529 in the first year after graduating and $41,215 five years after.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) Programs in Illinois, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Q: How many liberal arts and general studies associate's programs are in Illinois?

41 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 40 of them also report federal debt.

41 programs report first-year pay
40 also report federal debt
Associate's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois liberal arts and general studies associate's program pays its graduates $27,529 in their first year, $390 more than the national median. Prairie State College reports the highest first-year pay ($34,909), and Morton College the lowest median debt ($5,500).

Median first-year pay$27,529National $27,139

Median pay after 5 years$41,215National $40,284

Median federal debt$8,100National $10,864

Debt-to-earnings30%National 38%

All 41 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	Prairie State CollegeChicago Heights · public	$34,909	$42,077	$15,437	44%
2	Lincoln Land Community CollegeSpringfield · public	$34,164	$50,528	$11,022	32%
3	College of Lake CountyGrayslake · public	$33,413	$48,288	$6,687	20%
4	City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley CollegeChicago · public	$32,568	Not reported	$6,750	21%
5	City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X CollegeChicago · public	$32,380	Not reported	$9,500	29%
6	Morton CollegeCicero · public	$31,829	$41,269	$5,500	17%
7	City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright CollegeChicago · public	$31,322	$57,897	$6,550	21%
8	Heartland Community CollegeNormal · public	$31,250	$42,103	$11,000	35%
9	Kaskaskia CollegeCentralia · public	$30,605	$39,422	$7,500	25%
10	Black Hawk CollegeMoline · public	$30,390	$37,905	$8,250	27%
11	Highland Community College (Illinois)Freeport · public	$30,269	$40,629	$10,066	33%
12	Illinois Central CollegeEast Peoria · public	$29,845	$42,495	$9,656	32%
13	City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington CollegeChicago · public	$29,168	$43,880	$8,100	28%
14	College of DuPageGlen Ellyn · public	$28,678	$56,318	$9,500	33%
15	South Suburban CollegeSouth Holland · public	$28,465	$38,874	$9,500	33%
16	Danville Area Community CollegeDanville · public	$28,045	$39,082	$7,912	28%
17	City Colleges of Chicago-Kennedy-King CollegeChicago · public	$27,643	Not reported	$9,500	34%
18	William Rainey Harper CollegePalatine · public	$27,619	$46,636	$7,500	27%
19	Rock Valley CollegeRockford · public	$27,601	$41,215	$7,035	25%
20	Waubonsee Community CollegeSugar Grove · public	$27,597	$39,224	$7,250	26%
21	Carl Sandburg CollegeGalesburg · public	$27,529	$35,978	$6,000	22%
22	Triton CollegeRiver Grove · public	$27,342	$43,085	$8,500	31%
23	Joliet Junior CollegeJoliet · public	$27,296	$46,806	$8,250	30%
24	Parkland CollegeChampaign · public	$26,912	$38,337	$9,250	34%
25	Richland Community CollegeDecatur · public	$26,712	$38,453	$8,125	30%
26	City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey CollegeChicago · public	$26,232	Not reported	$9,500	36%
27	Southwestern Illinois CollegeBelleville · public	$25,513	$39,906	$7,248	28%
28	Elgin Community CollegeElgin · public	$25,377	$48,941	$8,380	33%
29	Rend Lake CollegeIna · public	$25,219	$38,803	$5,500	22%
30	Oakton CollegeDes Plaines · public	$24,918	$46,346	$5,500	22%
31	Lake Land CollegeMattoon · public	$24,754	$35,479	$7,346	30%
32	John Wood Community CollegeQuincy · public	$24,030	$33,553	$8,730	36%
33	John A Logan CollegeCarterville · public	$23,892	$29,032	$7,250	30%
34	Shawnee Community CollegeUllin · public	$23,403	$31,255	Not reported	Not reported
35	Moraine Valley Community CollegePalos Hills · public	$23,372	$42,341	$8,750	37%
36	Illinois Valley Community CollegeOglesby · public	$22,700	$40,290	$6,800	30%
37	Lewis and Clark Community CollegeGodfrey · public	$22,167	$39,550	$7,500	34%
38	Illinois Eastern Community CollegesOlney · public	$21,307	$36,322	$6,365	30%
39	Kishwaukee CollegeMalta · public	$21,090	$45,897	$11,250	53%
40	City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S Truman CollegeChicago · public	$19,982	$49,584	$9,500	48%
41	McHenry County CollegeCrystal Lake · public	$19,740	$44,574	$7,500	38%

Shawnee Community College 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 liberal arts and general 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 40 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Prairie State College$34,909
Lincoln Land Community College$34,164
College of Lake County$33,413
City Colleges of Chicago-Richard J Daley College$32,568
City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College$32,380

Lowest median debt

Morton College$5,500
Rend Lake College$5,500
Oakton College$5,500
Carl Sandburg College$6,000
Illinois Eastern Community Colleges$6,365

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.

Common questions

Prairie State College in Chicago Heights reports the highest median first-year pay, $34,909. Its median federal debt is $15,437.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked728 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in Illinois, ranked11 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 liberal arts and general studies associate'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