Top Ranked Programs
Aurora University's program mix is anchored in Business, with meaningful enrollment across education, social work, and health-related fields — a signature consistent with a regional private nonprofit serving the greater Chicago metro. Business accounts for 22% of graduates, followed by Education at 8% and Arts at 2%. Across 28 programs serving roughly 1,233 students annually, the university concentrates its degree output in applied professional fields oriented toward stable, community-facing careers. The program with the strongest combined scale and earnings is Nursing, which anchors Aurora University's financial outcomes by pairing meaningful cohort size with solid four-year earnings. Among the most popular programs, Social Work program graduates 203 students with median earnings of $55,546 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks the program #14 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Business Administration and Nursing round out the high-enrollment tier, reflecting the university's orientation toward human services and applied professional preparation. For the highest early-career earnings, Nursing leads with median earnings of $84,022 four years after enrollment — Azimuth ranks it #194 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Digital Marketing and Business Administration follow, each delivering competitive early-career pay relative to the institution's regional peers. The labor-market alignment of Aurora University's dominant program families reflects the demand profile of the greater Chicago metro and surrounding suburban markets, where education, healthcare, and business-services roles remain consistently in demand. Programs in education and social work are local-labor pathways where graduates typically enter regional employment rather than national high-mobility markets; business and management programs offer somewhat broader geographic reach. For context on how these program families align with national wage trends, see the [supply and demand for college graduates](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/).