Home > Online Colleges > Military-Friendly > Illinois
Key takeaway: 71 of the 113 Illinois-based institutions in our directory that offer at least one fully online program report both credit for military training and a dedicated point of contact for veterans, servicemembers, and their families (IPEDS IC 2024). 45 report all four services the federal survey tracks. The highest-ranked by BOC Score is University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Census Bureau records 10 military installations in Illinois (1 Navy, 2 Air Force, 3 National Guard, 4 Other), and 127 Illinois cities have their own page below.
Military-friendly online colleges based in Illinois
Ranked by BOC Score, which weights graduation rate, median earnings, net price, retention, and online availability from federal data. The tags on each card are the school’s own answers on the IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey: credit for military training, a dedicated military contact, DoD MOU membership, and a recognized student veteran organization.
How We Rank Schools
Every school list on this site is ordered by the BOC Score, computed from the most
recent school-level data published by the U.S. Department of Education (College Scorecard and IPEDS).
To qualify, a school must be currently operating and accredited by an agency recognized by the
U.S. Department of Education. Each eligible school is then scored on five measures, percentile-ranked
against schools at the same credential level:
BOCSCORE
- Graduation rate 30%
- Median earnings, 10 years after entry 25%
- Average net price (lower is better) 20%
- Retention rate 15%
- Fully online availability 10%
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score.
Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Graduation rate
86%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$81,054
Avg net price
$14,355/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 95%
- Programs offered: 177
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
85%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$77,709
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 80%
- Programs offered: 2
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
55%
Graduation rate
74%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$82,592
Avg net price
$18,425/yr
TuitionIn‑state$52,386
Out‑of‑state$52,386
Key stats
- Retention rate: 86%
- Programs offered: 76
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
70%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$68,740
Avg net price
$10,974/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 79%
- Programs offered: 140
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
75%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$58,743
TuitionContact school for pricing
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
72%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$58,723
TuitionContact school for pricing
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
70%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$63,926
Avg net price
$13,006/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 76%
- Programs offered: 54
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
77%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$66,852
Avg net price
$22,719/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 84%
- Programs offered: 97
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
71%
Graduation rate
65%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$66,099
Avg net price
$17,028/yr
TuitionIn‑state$39,200
Out‑of‑state$39,200
Key stats
- Retention rate: 81%
- Programs offered: 85
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Acceptance rate
88%
Graduation rate
65%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$62,117
Avg net price
$19,398/yr
TuitionIn‑state$16,144
Out‑of‑state$28,210
Key stats
- Retention rate: 81%
- Programs offered: 112
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning Commission · IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
59%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$60,327
Avg net price
$11,745/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 79%
- Programs offered: 63
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
75%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$92,405
Avg net price
$31,837/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 75%
- Programs offered: 11
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
69%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$60,123
Avg net price
$21,044/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 79%
- Programs offered: 70
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
60%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$58,656
Avg net price
$10,970/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 75%
- Programs offered: 61
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Graduation rate
68%
Median earnings, 10 yrs after entry
$68,751
Avg net price
$30,902/yr
TuitionContact school for pricing
Key stats
- Retention rate: 86%
- Programs offered: 166
Source:IPEDS · College Scorecard
Military installations in Illinois
The Census Bureau’s 2024 TIGER/Line military layer records 10 installations in Illinois (1 Navy, 2 Air Force, 3 National Guard, 4 Other, branch inferred from the recorded name). The largest by land area are listed; city pages show the ones within 100 miles of each city, with distances.
- Scott AFB
- Army National Guard Marseilles Training Center
- National Guard Sparta Armory
- Rock Island Arsenal
- Naval Station Great Lakes
- National Guard Springfield Training Site Camp Lincoln
- Capital Airport
- Great Lakes Camp John Paul Jones
- St Louis Air Force Station
- Glenview
Common post-service careers in Illinois
Statewide median wages for occupations that veterans commonly move into after an online degree, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (May 2025 OEWS).
| Occupation |
Median annual wage |
Scope |
| Information Security Analysts |
$124,180 |
IL statewide |
| Logisticians |
$80,100 |
IL statewide |
| Emergency Management Directors |
$83,820 |
IL statewide |
| Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers |
$100,520 |
IL statewide |
| Medical and Health Services Managers |
$117,850 |
IL statewide |
| Project Management Specialists |
$103,470 |
IL statewide |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators |
$100,080 |
IL statewide |
| Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers |
$120,250 |
IL statewide |
BLS publishes wages for metro areas and states, not individual cities; these are statewide medians.
What the four services mean
- Credit for military training (IPEDS VET2): the institution reports that it awards academic credit for military training, typically evaluated through the Joint Services Transcript. How much credit applies is set program by program.
- Dedicated military contact (VET3): a named point of contact for veterans, servicemembers, and their families.
- DoD MOU member (VET5): the institution has signed the Department of Defense Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding, a requirement for participating in service education programs.
- Student veteran org (VET4): a recognized student veteran organization on the institution’s records.
Of the 71 schools in Illinois that meet this page’s two-service definition, 45 report all four. All 71 are fully online by the IPEDS DISTPGS flag, as is every school on the national military-friendly online colleges list; the state view differs only in where the institution is based.
Military-friendly online colleges near Illinois cities
- Addison, IL
- Algonquin, IL
- Alton, IL
- Arlington Heights, IL
- Aurora, IL
- Bartlett, IL
- Batavia, IL
- Belleville, IL
- Belvidere, IL
- Berwyn, IL
- Bloomingdale, IL
- Bloomington, IL
- Blue Island, IL
- Bolingbrook, IL
- Braidwood, IL
- Buffalo Grove, IL
- Burbank, IL
- Calumet City, IL
- Carbondale, IL
- Carol Stream, IL
- Carpentersville, IL
- Champaign, IL
- Charleston, IL
- Chicago, IL
- Chicago Heights, IL
- Cicero, IL
- Collinsville, IL
- Crest Hill, IL
- Crystal Lake, IL
- Danville, IL
- Darien, IL
- DeKalb, IL
- Decatur, IL
- Des Plaines, IL
- Dolton, IL
- Downers Grove, IL
- East Moline, IL
- East Peoria, IL
- East Saint Louis, IL
- Edwardsville, IL
- Elgin, IL
- Elk Grove Village, IL
- Elmhurst, IL
- Elmwood Park, IL
- Evanston, IL
- Freeport, IL
- Galesburg, IL
- Geneva, IL
- Glen Ellyn, IL
- Glendale Heights, IL
- Glenview, IL
- Granite City, IL
- Grayslake, IL
- Gurnee, IL
- Hanover Park, IL
- Harvey, IL
- Highland Park, IL
- Hoffman Estates, IL
- Homer Glen, IL
- Huntley, IL
- Jacksonville, IL
- Joliet, IL
- Kankakee, IL
- Lake in the Hills, IL
- Lansing, IL
- Libertyville, IL
- Lisle, IL
- Lockport, IL
- Lombard, IL
- Loves Park, IL
- Machesney Park, IL
- Maywood, IL
- McHenry, IL
- Melrose Park, IL
- Mokena, IL
- Moline, IL
- Morton Grove, IL
- Mount Prospect, IL
- Mundelein, IL
- Naperville, IL
- New Lenox, IL
- Niles, IL
- Normal, IL
- North Chicago, IL
- Northbrook, IL
- O’Fallon, IL
- Oak Forest, IL
- Oak Lawn, IL
- Oak Park, IL
- Orland Park, IL
- Oswego, IL
- Ottawa, IL
- Palatine, IL
- Park Forest, IL
- Park Ridge, IL
- Pekin, IL
- Peoria, IL
- Peru, IL
- Plainfield, IL
- Quincy, IL
- Rock Island, IL
- Rockford, IL
- Rolling Meadows, IL
- Romeoville, IL
- Roselle, IL
- Round Lake Beach, IL
- Saint Charles, IL
- Schaumburg, IL
- Skokie, IL
- South Elgin, IL
- South Holland, IL
- Springfield, IL
- Sterling, IL
- Streamwood, IL
- Tinley Park, IL
- Urbana, IL
- Vernon Hills, IL
- Villa Park, IL
- Waukegan, IL
- West Chicago, IL
- Westmont, IL
- Wheaton, IL
- Wheeling, IL
- Wilmette, IL
- Woodridge, IL
- Woodstock, IL
- Zion, IL
Benefit eligibility is determined by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and your service’s education office. Nothing on this page guarantees education benefits, credit transfer, admission, or a particular cost. Confirm every detail with the school’s military or veteran services office before you enroll.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey (IC 2024): veteran and military services indicators (VET2 through VET5), distance-education program flag (DISTPGS); BOC Score from College Scorecard and IPEDS outcome data; U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2024 Military Installations layer (installation names as recorded there); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities; Census ACS 5-year estimates. Directory counts as of the September 2026 refresh.
