The top city with the most 4-year colleges in Illinois is Chicago, IL with a total of 68 colleges with 194,245 students enrolled. Chicago is the largest city in terms of both the number of schools and total student population in Illinois.The largest college in Chicago is University of Illinois Chicago with 33,906 students enrolled.
Other top cities in Illinois include
- Rockford, IL (7 colleges, 9,576 students). The biggest institution in Rockford is Rockford University with 1,241 students.
- Springfield, IL (6 colleges, 12,280 students). The largest college in Springfield is Missouri State University-Springfield with 24,360 students.
- Lisle, IL (4 colleges, 35,684 students). The biggest institution in Lisle is DeVry University-Illinois with 31,296 students.
- Normal, IL (4 colleges, 26,618 students). The biggest institution in Normal is Illinois State University with 21,546 students.
- Evanston, IL (4 colleges, 24,344 students). The biggest institution in Evanston is Northwestern University with 23,856 students.
- Joliet, IL (4 colleges, 17,568 students). The most prominent college in Joliet is University of St Francis with 3,074 students.
- Elgin, IL (4 colleges, 11,349 students). The largest college in Elgin is Judson University with 960 students.
- Crystal Lake, IL (4 colleges, 10,122 students). The largest college in Crystal Lake is Columbia College - Crystal Lake Campus.
- Peoria, IL (4 colleges, 5,774 students). The top college in Peoria is Bradley University with 4,777 students.
Illinois Cities with Most Colleges
The following table lists cities with the most number of 4-year colleges in Illinois, including the total number of schools, total enrollment, undergraduate and graduate students
, along with the distribution of men and women students across institutions. Click on any city to explore detailed information about colleges in that area. Each page also includes information about community colleges and trade schoools in the metropolitan region and nearby cities.