College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Illinois State University

ILLarge public institution · Overall rank #137 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Illinois State University #137 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Illinois State University is a public university in Normal, Illinois, where Education and Business lead the degree mix and mobility is among the highest we track. Graduates earn about what predicts for students like them, and the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools.

The model attributes the gap to the factors it measures, while the part it cannot explain subtracts from it. Pell students complete at a rate slightly above the overall cohort, and access is well above average.

Families at the bottom of the income scale pay well below the published cost, while those at the top pay closer to it. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study.

Illinois State at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
88.1%
Six-year completion[2]
64.5%
Four-year earnings[3]
$62,507

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$16,348
Median student debt[4]
$20,482
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$28,767

Illinois State rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Illinois State University is a public university in Normal, Illinois, enrolling 19,057 undergraduates. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, it lands near the top of the field (91st percentile).

Applicants are admitted at a rate of 88.1%, which exceeds the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions of the same type and size. After the first year, 81.4% of the first-time, full-time cohort return for a second year, compared with a median of 83.1% among similar institutions.

The six-year graduation rate is 64.5%, against a median of 65.0% for the same peer group. An estimated 29.7% of students arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate tracks only the first-time, full-time cohort and does not reflect the outcomes of transfer students.

At Illinois State University, mobility is the strongest (94th percentile) and affordability is the weakest (61st percentile). Return is the other low pillar (61st percentile), while access sits at the 81st percentile between the two lower pillars and mobility.

Illinois State University's strongest pillar is mobility, which reaches the 94th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The access pillar follows at the 81st percentile, while the return and affordability pillars sit closer together at the 61st and 61st percentiles.

Affordability is the weakest pillar, though all four land above the median for nonprofit four-year institutions. The composite rank is #137 among 1,467 institutions, reflecting the strength of the mobility pillar alongside solid access.

32.1% of undergraduates at Illinois State University receive Pell Grants. Azimuth ranks Illinois State University #285 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Pell recipients complete at a rate of 65.8%, which is 1.3 percentage points above the overall six-year graduation rate (64.5%). Azimuth ranks Illinois State University #82 for mobility.

Graduates earn about $369 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Illinois State rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#137
Illinois#6
Midwest#18

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 94
Access & reach
National percentile: 81
Affordability
National percentile: 61
Return on investment
National percentile: 61

Top-ranked majors

  1. Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management#2
  2. Agriculture, General#4
  3. Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General#6

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Illinois State briefing

Illinois State cost & financial aid[6][7]

The published cost of attendance at Illinois State University is $34,309. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported in-state tuition of $12,066 and required fees of $4,078 for the 2025-26 academic year, with on-campus food and housing at $11,410.

Out-of-state students face tuition of $24,132. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $19,398, which is $3,764 above the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Financial aid reduces the published cost by $14,911 on average. Azimuth ranks the university #558 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The published cost of attendance at Illinois State University is $34,309. Azimuth ranks the university #558 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients from families earning under $30,000 is $11,568, for those earning $48,001 to $75,000 it is $16,348, and for those earning over $110,000 it is $28,224. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $16,656.

Aid covers about 43% of the published cost for the average aid recipient, an offset of $14,911. The across all aid recipients is $19,398, which is $3,764 above the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who complete a degree carry a median of $20,482 in federal student loans, $406 above the $20,076 peer median. 91.5% of federal aid recipients take federal loans.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $28,767 in Parent PLUS loans. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$16,348

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Illinois State

Borrowing is widespread at Illinois State University: 91.5% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, and the median federal student debt among those who complete a degree is $20,482. That median sits above the peer median of $20,076 at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $406, so the typical federal debt load is in line with peers.

Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $28,767. In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported that 59% of its 2,595 bachelor's graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative debt of $26,698 per borrower.

Of those graduates, 57% held federal loans averaging $19,089. Another 14% of the graduates held private loans, which averaged $35,501 per private borrower.

Graduates of Illinois State University earn a median of $62,507 four years after completion, a figure in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. They earn about $369 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, an outcome in the 56th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix suggest a typical earnings level of $62,507, with a downside scenario of $49,209 and an upside scenario of $87,051. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $20,482, which is above the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $406.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month if repaid over ten years. Earnings that sit near the model's expectation and a debt level that mirrors the peer median point to a return picture that is steady but not outsized.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $28,767. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $233.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$20,482
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$28,767

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$233/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$365/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Illinois State briefing

Illinois State career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Illinois State University delivers earnings that are roughly in line with what the model expects for similar students, but the absolute dollar figures trail comparable institutions. Graduates earn about $369 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, a result in the 56th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Four years after completion, the median earnings are $62,507, in the 58th percentile nationally. That median sits below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $3,103.

Azimuth ranks the return pillar in the 61st percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,681.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,312. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $122.

Four years after completion, the median earnings of federally aided graduates from Illinois State University stand at $62,507, measured among a cohort of 5,719 completers. That figure is below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size), placing the university in the 58th percentile nationally.

Graduates earn about $369 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. Earnings scenarios anchored on the university's program mix show a downside scenario of $49,209 and an upside scenario reaching $87,051.

An estimated 27.0% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The median earnings sit just below the peer median, while the earnings scenarios show a wide spread between the downside and upside, reflecting the range of programs available.

Four years after completion, graduates of Illinois State University earn a median of $62,507, which places the university in the 58th percentile nationally. That figure is below the peer median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $3,103.

Graduates earn about $369 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, a result that sits in the 56th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $10,681.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $10,312. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $122.

The return pillar ranks at the 61st percentile nationally. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $49,209 and an upside of $87,051.

The largest program, Teacher Education, awarded 471 degrees and shows median earnings of $49,240 four years after completion, ranking #76 in its field in Azimuth's national rankings. Marketing graduates earn $77,956 and rank #42 nationally, while Finance graduates earn $85,326 and rank #69.

Among the university's highest-return programs, Music earns $54,767, which is 1.28x the national median for its field, and holds a national rank of #26.

Earnings at Illinois State University depend heavily on the program a student completes. The earnings scenarios, estimated from the university's program mix, range from a downside of $49,209 to an upside of $87,051, with a typical scenario of $62,507.

These are scenarios, not observed groups of graduates. The highest-earning programs show what the upper end of that range looks like.

Computer Science graduates earn a median of $111,099 four years after completion, from 58 degrees awarded a year. Computer and Information Sciences and Management Information Systems and Services follow at $98,382 and $95,120, respectively.

Graduates of Illinois State University earn about $369 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $20,482, which runs above the median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $233 a month. The average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $19,398, which is above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $28,767. The university's earnings are effectively at the expected level, while its debt is slightly below the peer median and its net price is above it.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$10,681
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$10,312
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$369

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Illinois State briefing

Illinois State acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Illinois State University admits 88.1% of applicants, a rate that sits above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2024-25 Common Data Set, the university reported 21,573 applicants, 19,017 admitted students, and 4,285 enrolled first-year students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
88.1%
25th percentile
1010
Median
1110
75th percentile
1210

CDS 2024-25 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Illinois State briefing

What are the largest majors at Illinois State?[12]

Illinois State University awards bachelor's degrees across 57 fields with published four-year earnings, and Azimuth ranks 46 of them nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions. The highest-earning ranked program, Finance, shows a median of $85,326 four years after completion, with 161 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #69.

Marketing follows at $77,956, ranking #42 nationally on 243 degrees awarded. Teacher Education, the largest program at 471 degrees awarded, reports median earnings of $49,240 and ranks #76 nationally.

Communication and Media Studies reaches $60,414 and ranks #75 nationally on 156 degrees awarded, showing a more moderate return alongside the higher-earning business fields.

Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management ranks #2 nationally and #1 in Illinois, with 81 degrees awarded. Its completers earn a median of $55,032 four years after completion.

Agriculture sits at #4 nationally and #1 in Illinois, with 122 degrees awarded. Its completers earn $63,600 four years after completion.

Engineering Technologies/Technicians is ranked #6 nationally, awarded 33 degrees, and shows a median of $80,530. Illinois State University holds 46 ranked bachelor's programs across 57 fields with earnings data.

Teacher Education is the largest program, awarding 471 degrees and ranking #76 nationally, with completers earning $49,240.

Illinois State University awards degrees across 46 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 57 with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is led by Business, which accounts for 21.3% of bachelor's degrees awarded, followed by Education at 16.9% and Health Professions at 9.3%.

The largest single program is Teacher Education, at 471 degrees awarded, with Marketing next at 243 and Nursing at 207. The ranked programs span fields such as Business, Education, and Health Professions.

Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Facilities Management is the highest-ranked program, with 81 degrees awarded and median earnings of $55,032 four years after completion, and it ranks #1 in Illinois within its field. Agriculture ranks #4 nationally and #1 in Illinois, with 122 degrees awarded and median earnings of $63,600.

Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences ranks #7 nationally and #1 in Illinois, with 30 degrees awarded and median earnings of $51,806. Music carries a benchmark ratio of 1.28x against the national median for its field, with $54,767 in median earnings.

The pattern is a university whose largest programs are in education and business, while its strongest rankings are in agriculture, recreation management, and family and consumer sciences/human sciences. The highest-earning programs are in computing and technical business fields, but they award far fewer degrees than the largest programs. 10.8% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 471 degrees awarded
$49,240
Marketing 243 degrees awarded
$77,956
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 207 degrees awarded
$81,264
Finance and Financial Management Services 161 degrees awarded
$85,326
Communication and Media Studies 156 degrees awarded
$60,414
Psychology, General 149 degrees awarded
$51,941

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Illinois State briefing

How does Illinois State serve students from different backgrounds?

Illinois State University is a public university where Pell recipients complete at 65.8%, above the overall six-year graduation rate of 64.5% by 1.3 percentage points. Azimuth ranks the university #82 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

That places the mobility pillar in the 94th percentile. Graduates earn about $369 more than the model expects for similar students, effectively at the expected level, a result that sits in the 56th percentile.

The Pell completion rate and the overall graduation rate point in the same direction, with Pell recipients finishing slightly ahead.

Illinois State University enrolls 19,057 undergraduates and admits 88.1% of applicants, a rate above the peer median of 78.1% for comparable public universitys. Pell Grant recipients make up 32.1% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 29.7% of undergraduates arrive as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 81st percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Illinois State briefing

What colleges are similar to Illinois State?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Illinois State.

Admissions peerBenedictine University95.2% admitted
Comparison with Illinois State
MeasureIllinois StateBenedictine University
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,507$72,460+$9,953 vs Illinois State
Average annual net price$19,398$22,313+$2,915 vs Illinois State · higher cost
Admission rate88.1%95.2%
Explore Benedictine University →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee100.0% admitted
Comparison with Illinois State
MeasureIllinois StateUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,507$62,480-$27 vs Illinois State
Average annual net price$19,398$15,014-$4,384 vs Illinois State · lower cost
Admission rate88.1%100.0%
Explore University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee →
Nearby alternativeNorthern Illinois UniversityNearby option · IL
Comparison with Illinois State
MeasureIllinois StateNorthern Illinois University
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,507$64,583+$2,076 vs Illinois State
Average annual net price$19,398$13,391-$6,007 vs Illinois State · lower cost
Admission rate88.1%69.8%
Explore Northern Illinois University →
Higher-earnings alternativeCal Poly Maritime Academy$108,757 earnings
Comparison with Illinois State
MeasureIllinois StateCal Poly Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,507$108,757+$46,250 vs Illinois State
Average annual net price$19,398$20,555+$1,157 vs Illinois State · higher cost
Admission rate88.1%95.0%
Explore Cal Poly Maritime Academy →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of Illinois Springfield$9,833 average net price
Comparison with Illinois State
MeasureIllinois StateUniversity of Illinois Springfield
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,507$63,235+$728 vs Illinois State
Average annual net price$19,398$9,833-$9,565 vs Illinois State · lower cost
Admission rate88.1%85.9%
Explore University of Illinois Springfield →
Similar profileUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnMatched across several measures
Comparison with Illinois State
MeasureIllinois StateUniversity of Nebraska-Lincoln
Peer earnings · 4 years$62,507$62,769+$262 vs Illinois State
Average annual net price$19,398$17,747-$1,651 vs Illinois State · lower cost
Admission rate88.1%87.5%
Explore University of Nebraska-Lincoln →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings