2026 Best Value General Writing Schools in Illinois
[General Writing](/majors/english-language-literature/writing-studies/writing-general/) degree programs vary widely in price and payoff across the country. The best values balance affordable tuition against strong post-graduation earnings.
For its 2026 best-value ranking, College Factual looked at 9 schools to find the best return on investment for general writing students.
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2026 Best Value General Writing Schools in Illinois
Below are the schools that deliver the strongest value in general writing, balancing cost against outcomes.
Best Value General Writing Schools
Northwestern University earned the #1 spot for value among general writing schools in Illinois. Northwestern University is a very large private not-for-profit school located in the city of Evanston. Expect in-state tuition and fees of around $68,322. Students borrow a median of $16,616 to complete the general writing program here. Early-career general writing graduates make about $78,551. Weighed against typical debt, the earnings make a compelling case for value. Roughly 8% of applicants are accepted.
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Notes and References
This list is compiled by College Factual (MF_RANKING_2025), 2026 edition. The methodology weighs the cost of a degree against the earnings graduates go on to achieve, drawn primarily from the U.S. Department of Education (IPEDS and College Scorecard).
Ranking method: College Major Best Value · 9 schools evaluated.
*Averages shown above reflect the top 1 ranked schools only.
- 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 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).
More about our data sources and methodologies.
