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Community colleges in Illinois

There are 20 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Illinois reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $5,502 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Illinois, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Illinois

  1. Waubonsee Community CollegeSugar Grove$3,504
  2. Rock Valley CollegeRockford$4,334
  3. Danville Area Community CollegeDanville$4,440
  4. College of DuPageGlen Ellyn$4,560
  5. City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington CollegeChicago$4,590

Full Illinois cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Illinois

  1. College of DuPageGlen Ellyn16,114
  2. Waubonsee Community CollegeSugar Grove5,721
  3. City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright CollegeChicago4,372
  4. Rock Valley CollegeRockford4,359
  5. City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington CollegeChicago4,207

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. College of DuPageGlen Ellyn27%
  2. Worsham College of Mortuary ScienceWheeling26%
  3. South Suburban CollegeSouth Holland26%
  4. Waubonsee Community CollegeSugar Grove20%
  5. Danville Area Community CollegeDanville19%

Illinois transfer guide →

All 20 community colleges in Illinois

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Ambria College of NursingHoffman Estates123—
Carl Sandburg CollegeGalesburg1,051$5,390
City Colleges of Chicago-Harold Washington CollegeChicago4,207$4,590
City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright CollegeChicago4,372$4,590
College of DuPageGlen Ellyn16,114$4,560
Danville Area Community CollegeDanville1,508$4,440
Fox CollegeTinley Park200$17,670
Generations CollegeChicago310$12,700
John A Logan CollegeCarterville2,016$4,630
John Wood Community CollegeQuincy1,371$5,700
Midwestern Career CollegeChicago887—
Morrison Institute of TechnologyMorrison59$20,355
Morton CollegeCicero2,640$5,502
Rasmussen University-IllinoisRockford1,145$14,078
Rock Valley CollegeRockford4,359$4,334
South Suburban CollegeSouth Holland2,042$5,093
St. Augustine CollegeChicago787$13,688
Taylor Business InstituteChicago98$12,000
Waubonsee Community CollegeSugar Grove5,721$3,504
Worsham College of Mortuary ScienceWheeling183$20,500

About community college in Illinois

Illinois's 20 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Illinois community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Illinois routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Illinois's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.