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2025 Best Early Childhood Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois

17 Colleges in Illinois
512 Bachelor's Degrees
If you pursue a bachelor's degree in early childhood education, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #32 most popular program in the country. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

In 2025, College Factual analyzed 17 schools in order to identify the top ones for its Best Early Childhood Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois ranking. Combined, these schools handed out 512 bachelor's degrees in early childhood education to qualified students.

What's on this page: * Our Methodology

Choosing a Great Early Childhood Education School for Your Bachelor's Degree

Best Early Childhood Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois The child development bachelor's degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. 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 bachelor's degree school is important to ensure a good education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To take this into account we consider a school's overall Best Colleges ranking which itself looks at a host of various factors like degree completion, educational resources, student body caliber and post-graduation earnings for the school as a whole.

Other Factors We Consider

The metrics below are just some of the other metrics that we use to determine our rankings.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for early childhood education students working on their bachelor's degree.

More Ways to Rank Early Childhood Education Schools

Rankings by Location Check Out Other Locales
More Child development Rankings Other Ranking Categories

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 Early Childhood Education Bachelor's Degree Schools in Illinois list to help you make the college decision.

In addition to College Factual's rankings, you may want to take a look at College Combat, our unique tool that lets you pit your favorite schools head-to-head and compare how they rate on factors that most interest you. When you have some time, check it out - you may want to bookmark the link so you don't forget it.

Best Schools for Bachelor’s Students to Study Early Childhood Education in Illinois

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a bachelor's degree in early childhood education.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Bachelor's in Child development

1
94 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in early childhood education has to look into Illinois State University. Illinois State is a fairly large public university located in the suburb of Normal.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Illinois State University

2
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
17 Annual Graduates

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is one of the best schools in the country for getting a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. UIUC is a fairly large public university located in the small city of Champaign.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

3
10 Annual Graduates

Any student pursuing a degree in a bachelor's degree in early childhood education needs to look into Loyola University Chicago. Loyola Chicago is a fairly large private not-for-profit university located in the large city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Loyola University Chicago

4
Doctor's Degree Highest Degree Type
10 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Concordia University, Chicago if you wish to pursue a bachelor's degree in early childhood education. Located in the large suburb of River Forest, Concordia University, Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a medium-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Concordia University, Chicago

5
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
122 Annual Graduates

NLU is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from National Louis University

6
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
34 Annual Graduates

Located in the suburb of Dekalb, NIU is a public university with a large student population.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Northern Illinois University

7
10 Annual Graduates

Bradley is a medium-sized private not-for-profit university located in the midsize city of Peoria.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Bradley University

8
DePaul crest
DePaul University
Chicago, IL
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
16 Annual Graduates

DePaul is a very large private not-for-profit university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from DePaul University

9
Master's Degree Highest Degree Type
14 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, SXU is a private not-for-profit university with a small student population.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Saint Xavier University

10
40 Annual Graduates

Located in the city of Chicago, Northeastern Illinois University is a public university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a bachelor’s in early childhood education from Northeastern Illinois University

Best Early Childhood Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Early Childhood Education Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State Colleges Degrees Awarded
Michigan 629 281
Ohio 612 963
Indiana 535 152
Wisconsin 435 177

View All Rankings >

Early Childhood Education is one of 13 different types of Teacher Education Grade Specific programs to choose from.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Elementary Education 1,431
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching 197
Secondary Education 98
Teacher Education 28
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching 25
Teacher Development & Methodology 8

Notes and References

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