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Home > Online Colleges > Military-Friendly > Illinois > Waukegan
Key takeaway: 10 accredited institutions within 100 miles of Waukegan offer fully online programs and report both credit for military training and a dedicated point of contact for veterans, servicemembers, and their families (IPEDS IC 2024); 5 report all four services the federal survey tracks. The nearest installation recorded by the Census Bureau is Naval Station Great Lakes, about 4 miles away, and 8 installations sit within 100 miles (1 Navy, 3 Coast Guard, 1 National Guard, 3 Other). None of the 10 schools has a campus within 30 miles; the closest is National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, IL, about 36 miles away. The highest-ranked by BOC Score is Saint Anthony College of Nursing. Waukegan has a population of about 88,919 and a median household income of $70,578; 21.0 percent of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher (Census ACS 5-year estimates).
Schools based in Illinois that report credit for military training and a dedicated military contact, ordered by distance from Waukegan city center, with BOC Score on each card. The tags on each card are the school’s own IPEDS answers for the four military services. The distance table further down covers the nearest qualifying schools regardless of state line.
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:
Schools without enough outcome data appear after ranked schools, without a score. On this page, schools are ordered by distance from Waukegan. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
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| School | Location | Credit for military training | Dedicated military contact | DoD MOU member | Student veteran org | BOC Score | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Anthony College of Nursing | Rockford, IL | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 87.3 | 57 mi |
| University of Wisconsin-Madison | Madison, WI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 86.9 | 92 mi |
| Illinois Institute of Technology | Chicago, IL | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | 81.6 | 39 mi |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago, IL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 79.6 | 36 mi |
| National University of Health Sciences | Lombard, IL | Yes | Yes | No | No | 76.0 | 36 mi |
| Marquette University | Milwaukee, WI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 75.3 | 46 mi |
| University of St Francis | Joliet, IL | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 74.9 | 59 mi |
| Milwaukee School of Engineering | Milwaukee, WI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 74.0 | 47 mi |
| Lewis University | Romeoville, IL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 73.8 | 54 mi |
| Valparaiso University | Valparaiso, IN | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 71.6 | 76 mi |
Illinois has 71 military-friendly online colleges by this definition; the Illinois page lists them all.
| Installation (as recorded by the Census Bureau) | Branch (from the name) | Distance from Waukegan |
|---|---|---|
| Naval Station Great Lakes | Navy | 4 mi |
| Great Lakes Camp John Paul Jones | Other | 5 mi |
| Coast Guard Station Kenosha | Coast Guard | 15 mi |
| Glenview | Other | 19 mi |
| General Mitchell International Airport Airguard Station | Other | 39 mi |
| Coast Guard Station Milwaukee | Coast Guard | 44 mi |
| Army National Guard Marseilles Training Center | National Guard | 86 mi |
| Coast Guard Station Holland | Coast Guard | 89 mi |
Median wages for occupations that veterans commonly move into after an online degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), shown for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area where BLS publishes it.
| Occupation | Median annual wage | Scope | Cost-of-living adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Information Security Analysts | $125,310 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $120,956 |
| Logisticians | $79,900 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $77,124 |
| Emergency Management Directors | $101,130 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $97,616 |
| Police and Sheriff’s Patrol Officers | $107,810 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $104,064 |
| Medical and Health Services Managers | $123,090 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $118,813 |
| Project Management Specialists | $105,320 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $101,660 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators | $103,170 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $99,585 |
| Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers | $124,120 | Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro | $119,807 |
BLS publishes wages for metro areas and states, not individual cities; rows marked with the metro name are metro medians, the rest are statewide.
None of the 10 schools in the table has a campus within 30 miles of Waukegan; the nearest is National University of Health Sciences at 36 miles.
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.
