2025 Best Business, Management & Marketing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Ranked #1 in popularity, business, management & marketing is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. So, there are lots of possibilities to explore when you're trying to determine where you want to get your degree.

College Factual reviewed 35 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of business, management & marketing. Combined, these schools handed out 12,914 master's degrees in business, management & marketing to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Business, Management & Marketing School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of business, management & marketing for getting your master's degree school matters. This section explores some of the factors we include in our ranking and how much they vary depending on the school you select. Below we explain some of the most important factors to consider before making your choice:

Overall Quality Is a Must

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Early-Career Salaries

Average early-career salary of those graduating with their master's degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. After all, your master's degree won't mean much if it doesn't help you find a job that will help you earn a living.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to business, management & marketing students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of business, management & marketing students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How easy is it for business, management & marketing to pay back their student loans after receiving their master's degree.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized business, management & marketing related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for business, management & marketing students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Business, Management & Marketing Master's Degree Schools in Illinois list, to help you choose the best school for you.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Business, Management & Marketing in Illinois

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in business, management & marketing.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Business, Management & Marketing

1

Northwestern University
Evanston, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

2,865 Annual Graduates

Northwestern University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in business, management & marketing. Northwestern is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Evanston.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from Northwestern University

2

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

3,008 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in business, management & marketing has to look into University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Located in the small city of Champaign, UIUC is a public university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3

DePaul University
Chicago, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

669 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat DePaul University if you wish to pursue a master's degree in business, management & marketing. Located in the city of Chicago, DePaul is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from DePaul University

4

Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

361 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Loyola University Chicago if you want to pursue a master's degree in business, management & marketing. Located in the large city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from Loyola University Chicago

5

Benedictine University
Lisle, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

376 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Lisle, Benedictine U is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from Benedictine University

6

Northern Illinois University
Dekalb, IL

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

304 Annual Graduates

NIU is a large public university located in the small suburb of Dekalb.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from Northern Illinois University

7

Bradley University
Peoria, IL

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

42 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Peoria, Bradley is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from Bradley University

8

Illinois Institute of Technology
Chicago, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

117 Annual Graduates

Located in the large city of Chicago, Illinois Tech is a private not-for-profit school with a medium-sized student population.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from Illinois Institute of Technology

9

Elmhurst University
Elmhurst, IL

Master's Degree Highest Degree Type

109 Annual Graduates

Elmhurst is a small private not-for-profit university located in the large suburb of Elmhurst.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from Elmhurst University

10

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type

539 Annual Graduates

UIC is a very large public university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in business, management & marketing from University of Illinois at Chicago

Best Business, Management & Marketing Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Indiana	33	5,086
Ohio	32	5,239
Michigan	31	5,374
Wisconsin	31	2,220

View All Rankings >

Business, Management & Marketing Majors to Study

Major	Annual Graduates
Business Administration & Management	5,643
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	5,158
Accounting	510
Marketing	444
Human Resource Management	409
Finance & Financial Management	346
Management Information Systems	194
General Business/Commerce	114
Entrepreneurial Studies	31
Taxation	20

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Credit for the banner image above goes to Amit Savargaonkar. More about our data sources and methodologies.