The FIVE WORST Colleges in Illinois for 2024

What qualifies as a "bad college?"

One of the most crucial factors to consider when evaluating a college is its graduation rates.

If your students aren't graduating from your college, what are you even doing? It's that simple.

As someone who attended several different colleges and universities, I won't put all the blame on the school.

One of the key differentiators between good and bad colleges in Illinois and across the US is their ability to prepare their students for success, not failure.

So, I decided to look at College Simply's list of Illinois Colleges Ranked by Lowest Graduation Rate to determine the five worst schools in the state.

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With barely 10% of students graduating, City Colleges of Chicago Olive Harvey College is the fifth-worst college in Illinois.

Hebrew Theological College, located at 7135 Carpenter Road in Skokie, is the fourth-worst school, with only 9.3% of the students graduating.

Slightly worse in graduation percentages is the 3rd worst school, East West University, at 816 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

What makes a college the worst? As Moms Who Think aptly put it, students may struggle to graduate due to insufficient support, inadequate teaching, or high costs. These are not just statistics but the stories of students who deserve better.

Less than 9% of students graduate from City Colleges of Chicago Malcolm X College, with a paltry 8.5%.

Surprisingly, the college with the lowest graduation rate is not a traditional institution but an online one, the University of Phoenix Chicago Campus.

Things were so bad at the University of Phoenix that it closed shop a few years ago and will "close all of its physical campuses except for one in Phoenix by 2025," according to Inside Higher Ed.

But is there a college in Illinois worse than the University of Phoenix?