2025 Best Liberal Arts Associate Degree Schools in Illinois

Ranked #1 in popularity, liberal arts is one of the most sought-after associate degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual looked at 44 colleges and universities when compiling its 2025 Best Liberal Arts Associate Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. When you put them all together, these colleges and universities awarded 13,167 associate degrees in liberal arts during the 2022-2023 academic year.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Associate Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Liberal Arts School for Your Associate Degree

Your choice of liberal arts for getting your associate 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. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

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 liberal arts students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - How many other liberal arts students want to attend this school to pursue a associate degree.
• 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.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized liberal arts related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for liberal arts students working on their associate degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

When choosing the right school for you, it's important to arm yourself with all the facts you can. To that end, we've created a number of major-specific rankings, including this Best Liberal Arts Associate Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.

Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Liberal Arts in Illinois

The following list ranks the best colleges and universities for pursuing an associate degree in liberal arts.

10 Top Illinois Schools for an Associate in Liberal Studies

1

Lincoln Land Community College
Springfield, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

383 Annual Graduates

It is hard to beat Lincoln Land Community College if you want to pursue an associate degree in liberal arts. Located in the rural area of Springfield, LLCC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a associate in liberal arts from Lincoln Land Community College

2

Waubonsee Community College
Sugar Grove, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

430 Annual Graduates

Waubonsee Community College is a good option for students pursuing an associate degree in liberal arts. Located in the rural area of Sugar Grove, Waubonsee is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in liberal arts from Waubonsee Community College

3

William Rainey Harper College
Palatine, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

946 Annual Graduates

William Rainey Harper College is a great decision for individuals interested in an associate degree in liberal arts. Harper College is a large public college located in the suburb of Palatine.More information about a associate in liberal arts from William Rainey Harper College

4

College of Lake County
Grayslake, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

874 Annual Graduates

College of Lake County is a great choice for students interested in an associate degree in liberal arts. College of Lake County is a large public college located in the suburb of Grayslake.More information about a associate in liberal arts from College of Lake County

5

Elgin Community College
Elgin, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

524 Annual Graduates

Located in the medium-sized city of Elgin, ECC is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a associate in liberal arts from Elgin Community College

6

South Suburban College
South Holland, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

111 Annual Graduates

SSC is a small public college located in the suburb of South Holland.More information about a associate in liberal arts from South Suburban College

7

College of DuPage
Glen Ellyn, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

673 Annual Graduates

COD is a very large public college located in the suburb of Glen Ellyn.More information about a associate in liberal arts from College of DuPage

8

Rock Valley College
Rockford, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

509 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Rockford, Rock Valley College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in liberal arts from Rock Valley College

9

Illinois Central College
East Peoria, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

490 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of East Peoria, ICC is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in liberal arts from Illinois Central College

10

City Colleges of Chicago - Harold Washington College
Chicago, IL

Associate Degree Highest Degree Type

661 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, Harold Washington College is a public college with a medium-sized student population.More information about a associate in liberal arts from City Colleges of Chicago - Harold Washington College

Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Liberal Arts Schools in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Ohio	450	6,765
Michigan	410	4,620
Wisconsin	224	642
Indiana	221	1,036

View All Rankings >

Liberal Arts Related Rankings by Major

Liberal Arts is one of 3 different types of Liberal Arts General Studies programs to choose from.

Most Popular Related Majors

Related Major	Annual Graduates
General Studies	2,099

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). More about our data sources and methodologies.