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Rockford, Illinois has 20 accredited schools offering journalism programs, with tuition ranging from $4,977 to $45,726 per year for indexed programs. Rockford has a population of about 147,649. Median household income is $53,328 (Census ACS 2023, 5-year). About 23.2% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. In the Rockford, IL metro area, the top-earning journalism-related role is Public Relations Specialist at a median $62,500 annually (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
The accredited institutions listed below are the closest in our directory that offer journalism programs near Rockford, ranked by BOC Score and straight-line distance from Rockford city center. The list is rebuilt from federal IPEDS data on every site update.
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 Rockford. Advertising never affects these rankings. Read the full methodology.
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:Accreditor: Higher Learning CommissionIPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source:IPEDSCollege Scorecard
Source: IPEDS / College Scorecard (2023 cohort). Browse all Illinois schools on the Illinois journalism page.
Rockford is part of the Rockford, IL metro area (BLS area code 40420). Where MSA-level wages are published, the table below shows MSA medians; otherwise it falls back to Illinois statewide.
| Occupation | Median Wage | Source | COL-Adjusted (US=100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| News Analyst, Reporter, and Journalist | $60,590 | IL statewide | $65,716 |
| Editor | $59,380 | Rockford, IL | $64,403 |
| Public Relations Specialist | $62,500 | Rockford, IL | $67,787 |
Source: BLS, May 2025 Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes wage data at the metro (MSA) and state level – not by individual city.
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 147,649 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B01003) |
| Median household income | $53,328 | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B19013) |
| Adults 25+ with bachelor’s+ | 23.2% | Census ACS 2023 5-yr (B15003) |
| Regional Price Parity (US=100) | 92.2 (below U.S. average) | BEA RPP 2024 |
Our directory has 20 accredited schools offering journalism programs near Rockford. The closest is Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, IL (27.2 miles), and the farthest of the schools shown is Dominican University (68.3 miles). 9 of the highlighted schools are flagged as offering distance education.
Based on BLS OEWS May 2025 wage data, the top-paying journalism-related roles near Rockford are: Public Relations Specialist ($62,500), News Analyst, Reporter, and Journalist ($60,590), Editor ($59,380). These reflect MSA-level medians where published, with Illinois statewide fallback for occupations not reported at the metro level.
Loves Park, IL is 6.3 miles from Rockford and has its own set of local journalism programs – see the city’s page. For online programs, distance matters less; for hybrid or in-person formats, comparing both can help.
Rockford’s median household income of $53,328 (Census ACS 2023) is one input. Online programs let students stay in Rockford while attending lower-cost out-of-state schools, and Illinois public universities often offer reduced in-state online tuition.
Confirm institutional accreditation via the U.S. Department of Education database (U.S. Dept. of Education database), and check for any program-specific accreditation listed by the school.
Compare every accredited online degree program with city-level data for Rockford:
Data verified: August 11, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.
Back to Best Journalism Schools in Illinois: Online Programs (2026)
