Which Illinois theatre program has the lowest debt?

Northwestern University reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,000, with first-year pay of $19,245.

How much do theatre graduates earn in Illinois?

The median across 14 Illinois theatre bachelor's programs is $20,709 in the first year after graduating and $35,096 five years after.

How many theatre bachelor's programs are in Illinois?

14 Illinois programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

14 programs report first-year pay
14 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Illinois theatre bachelor's program pays its graduates $20,709 in their first year, $107 less than the national median. Illinois State reports the highest first-year pay ($28,958), and Northwestern University the lowest median debt ($17,000).

Median first-year pay$20,709National $20,815

Median pay after 5 years$35,096National $34,512

Median federal debt$26,000National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings117%National 115%

All 14 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	Illinois StateNormal · public	$28,958	$39,893	$24,246	84%
2	Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale · public	$27,004	$35,096	$23,500	87%
3	Millikin UniversityDecatur · private nonprofit	$24,013	$35,442	$27,000	112%
4	Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb · public	$23,517	$38,201	$27,000	115%
5	UIUCChampaign · public	$22,159	$38,862	$20,500	93%
6	DePaul UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$22,021	$33,700	$26,348	120%
7	Roosevelt UniversityChicago · private nonprofit	$21,001	$15,396	$26,000	124%
8	North Central CollegeNaperville · private nonprofit	$20,416	$34,084	$21,000	103%
9	Augustana CollegeRock Island · private nonprofit	$20,326	Not reported	$26,955	133%
10	Illinois Wesleyan UniversityBloomington · private nonprofit	$19,490	$30,435	$27,000	139%
11	Northwestern UniversityEvanston · private nonprofit	$19,245	$47,619	$17,000	88%
12	Columbia College ChicagoChicago · private nonprofit	$17,929	$33,746	$26,977	150%
13	Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville · public	$16,892	$46,366	$26,010	154%
14	UICChicago · public	$14,938	$33,133	$21,238	142%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Illinois theatre 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 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

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

Producers and Directors

$81,080

Median pay in Illinois. 3,170 people work in this job in Illinois. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $41,250Top 10%: $169,040

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

Common questions

Illinois State in Normal reports the highest median first-year pay, $28,958. Its median federal debt is $24,246.

Theatre (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked257 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 theatre 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