BSN programs in Illinois
35 BSN programs compared on what happens after graduation: first-time NCLEX-RN pass rates, what a year costs, what graduates owe and what they earn.
- 84.1%
- of first-time test-takers from Illinois BSN programs passed the NCLEX-RN, 2025 (national BSN rate: 87.6%, 2025)
- 33
- programs with at least 20 first-time test-takers over three years, so their pass rate is ranked; 2 more are shown without a rank
- $95,990
- median yearly pay for registered nurses in Illinois, May 2025 (BLS)
What the data shows
- Spread between programs. Among the 33 programs with at least 20 first-time test-takers, three-year pass rates run from 61.9% (Chicago State University) to 100.0% (Trinity Christian College), a gap of 38.1 points.
- Against the national rate. BSN graduates in Illinois trailed the national first-time rate of 87.6% by 3.5 points. Programs here passed 84.1% of 3,245 first-time test-takers in the latest year each reported (2025).
- Lowest net price with an above-average pass rate. University of Illinois Chicago has the lowest average net price ($9,540 a year) of the 20 ranked programs that were at or above the state's pooled pass rate of 87.0%.
- Direction of travel. 23 of 33 programs reported a lower first-time pass rate in their latest year than in their earliest of the three years shown (2023 to 2025 for most).
33 BSN programs ranked by first-time pass rate
Ordered by the pass rate pooled over the program's last three reporting years. The dots show each year, newest in blue; the vertical line marks the Illinois average for the latest year.
| Program | First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | Test-takers | Net price a year | Median loan debt | Pay 1 year out | Graduation rate | Accredited by | Online option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinity Christian CollegePalos Heights, Private | 100.0%2023: 100.0% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 100.0% | 53 | $15,155 | – | $83,528 | 61% | CCNE | No |
| Saint Anthony College of NursingRockford, Private | 96.3%2023: 97.3% · 2024: 97.5% · 2025: 94.0% | 163 | – | $21,250 | $84,491 | 100% | CCNE | Partly |
| Western Illinois UniversityMacomb, Public | 95.6%2023: 100.0% · 2024: 94.9% · 2025: 92.0% | 91 | $10,018 | $24,598 | $76,577 | 47% | CCNE | No |
| Trinity College of Nursing & Health SciencesRock Island, Private | 95.1%2023: 97.8% · 2024: 92.3% · 2025: 90.0% | 81 | – | $24,246 | $80,750 | – | CCNE | Partly |
| Bradley UniversityPeoria, Private | 94.8%2023: 93.8% · 2024: 96.8% · 2025: 93.2% | 249 | $22,469 | $27,000 | $77,642 | 75% | CCNE | No |
| Mennonite Nursing at Illinois State Univ. | 94.0%2023: 92.6% · 2024: 95.8% · 2025: 93.7% | 619 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Methodist CollegePeoria, Private | 93.6%2023: 95.6% · 2024: 95.6% · 2025: 85.7% | 314 | $41,238 | $29,381 | $77,709 | 55% | CCNE | Partly |
| Loyola University ChicagoChicago, Private | 92.9%2023: 93.6% · 2024: 95.3% · 2025: 89.1% | 990 | $36,340 | $25,000 | $82,706 | 73% | CCNE | No |
| Lewis UniversityRomeoville, Private | 92.8%2023: 97.8% · 2024: 97.7% · 2025: 86.0% | 306 | $17,318 | $21,500 | $82,495 | 61% | CCNE | Partly |
| University of St FrancisJoliet, Private | 92.8%2023: 92.5% · 2024: 97.7% · 2025: 87.3% | 250 | $15,961 | $20,000 | $80,434 | 65% | CCNE | Partly |
| Blessing Rieman College of Nursing and Health SciencesQuincy, Private | 92.7%2023: 89.1% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 90.0% | 124 | – | $15,000 | $73,589 | – | CCNE | Partly |
| Olivet Nazarene UniversityBourbonnais, Private | 92.4%2023: 90.8% · 2024: 88.9% · 2025: 98.1% | 172 | $19,978 | $26,206 | $80,396 | 60% | CCNE | Yes |
| Saint Francis Medical Center College of NursingPeoria, Private | 92.0%2023: 93.8% · 2024: 90.9% · 2025: 90.8% | 287 | – | $15,000 | $72,550 | – | CCNE | Partly |
| Dominican UniversityRiver Forest, Private | 91.5%2023: 89.7% · 2024: 97.4% · 2025: 87.2% | 106 | $14,013 | $23,500 | $79,130 | 58% | CCNE | No |
| Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleEdwardsville, Public | 91.3%2023: 90.4% · 2024: 94.2% · 2025: 89.9% | 587 | $13,111 | $19,201 | $76,657 | 57% | CCNE | Partly |
| Eastern Illinois UniversityCharleston, Public | 90.6%2023: 57.1% · 2024: 100.0% · 2025: 100.0% | 32 | $12,717 | $22,888 | $81,372 | 49% | CCNE | Partly |
| University of Illinois ChicagoChicago, Public | 88.4%2023: 94.8% · 2024: 90.1% · 2025: 81.9% | 570 | $9,540 | $13,000 | $82,644 | 62% | CCNE | Yes |
| Aurora UniversityAurora, Private | 88.0%2023: 87.0% · 2024: 95.0% · 2025: 82.0% | 499 | $19,385 | $21,500 | $76,950 | 60% | CCNE | No |
| North Park UniversityChicago, Private | 87.8%2023: 82.1% · 2024: 95.5% · 2025: 88.7% | 164 | $15,949 | $25,874 | $79,244 | 55% | CCNE | No |
| Rockford UniversityRockford, Private | 87.5%2023: 82.5% · 2024: 95.2% · 2025: 88.9% | 88 | $22,581 | $24,625 | $76,273 | 46% | ACEN | No |
| Lakeview College of NursingDanville, Private | 86.9%2023: 86.6% · 2024: 81.1% · 2025: 93.9% | 137 | – | $17,000 | $77,576 | – | CCNE | No |
| St. John's CollegeSpringfield, Private | 86.8%2023: 78.1% · 2024: 94.6% · 2025: 86.4% | 91 | – | $15,000 | $77,146 | – | ACEN | Partly |
| Northern Illinois UniversityDekalb, Public | 86.3%2023: 88.4% · 2024: 91.7% · 2025: 80.6% | 315 | $14,505 | $22,700 | $77,976 | 49% | CCNE | Partly |
| Illinois Wesleyan UniversityBloomington, Private | 86.2%2023: 83.0% · 2024: 97.2% · 2025: 80.0% | 123 | $27,863 | $27,000 | $80,143 | 74% | CCNE | No |
| Southern Illinois University-CarbondaleCarbondale, Public | 85.9%2023: 90.5% · 2024: 83.3% · 2025: 85.2% | 163 | $12,554 | $18,750 | – | 61% | CCNE | Partly |
| Millikin UniversityDecatur, Private | 84.2%2023: 84.3% · 2024: 87.1% · 2025: 78.9% | 101 | $16,652 | $24,342 | $79,863 | 53% | CCNE | No |
| Elmhurst UniversityElmhurst, Private | 81.7%2023: 79.6% · 2024: 87.5% · 2025: 77.5% | 322 | $23,165 | $18,750 | $77,461 | 67% | CCNE | Partly |
| Oak Point / Resurrection Univ | 81.1%2023: 80.6% · 2024: 85.4% · 2025: 20.0% | 228 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Chamberlain University-IllinoisAddison, For-profit | 79.9%2023: 81.3% · 2024: 81.5% · 2025: 77.0% | 2,569 | $38,263 | $21,656 | $89,974 | 39% | – | Partly |
| Roosevelt UniversityChicago, Private | 78.0%2023: 83.3% · 2024: 72.2% · 2025: 81.8% | 41 | $21,512 | – | $82,760 | 35% | CCNE | No |
| Illinois CollegeJacksonville, Private | 77.1%2023: 100.0% · 2024: 85.0% · 2025: 52.9% | 48 | $18,763 | $27,000 | $75,522 | 62% | CCNE | No |
| Saint Xavier UniversityChicago, Private | 75.7%2023: 64.1% · 2024: 81.7% · 2025: 86.0% | 444 | $10,171 | $24,300 | $83,060 | 56% | CCNE | No |
| Chicago State UniversityChicago, Public | 61.9%2023: 93.3% · 2024: 50.0% · 2025: 33.3% | 42 | $7,273 | $30,125 | $78,845 | 15% | ACEN | No |
Pass rates: Illinois board of nursing, calendar. Net price is the College Scorecard's average yearly cost after grants and scholarships for first-time, full-time undergraduates who receive federal aid (in-state price at public schools), and graduation rate covers the whole school. Debt is the median federal loan balance of nursing graduates who borrowed, and pay is the median earnings of graduates who are working one year after finishing (2024 dollars). Accreditation is checked against the ACEN and CCNE directories; a dash means we could not match the program to a listing, which is not the same as being unaccredited, so check with the school. “Partly” under online option means some, but not all, of the school's programs at this level can be finished fully online, such as an RN-to-BSN track. A dash means the figure is not published, often because too few graduates received federal aid.
Programs with fewer than 20 test-takers
With so few graduates testing, one or two results can move a program's pass rate by many points, so we show these programs but do not rank them.
| Program | First-time NCLEX-RN pass rate | Test-takers |
|---|---|---|
| DePaul UniversityChicago, Private | 100.0%2023: 100.0% | 1 |
| National Louis University | 33.3%2025: 33.3% | 3 |
Other Illinois schools that award nursing bachelor's degrees
These schools reported nursing graduates to the federal government but do not appear on the board's NCLEX list for this program type. Some offer only an RN-to-BSN completion program for nurses who already hold a license; others are new, or the board lists them under another school.
| School | City | Graduates a year | Net price a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois State University | Normal | 228 | $17,829 |
| McKendree University | Lebanon | 70 | $18,457 |
| Benedictine University | Lisle | 33 | $18,910 |
| Quincy University | Quincy | 23 | $22,711 |
| Governors State University | University Park | 21 | $15,833 |
| Wheaton College | Wheaton | 7 | $26,059 |
How to read this page
Illinois lists 35 BSN programs on its board of nursing's published NCLEX results (7 public, 24 private nonprofit and 1for-profit among the 32 we could match to a federal school record). Graduates of a bachelor's degree in nursing program take the NCLEX-RN; programs typically take about 4 years.
Pass rates cover calendar. Boards define a reporting year differently, so compare programs within a state rather than across states. We have not combined these figures into an overall score yet: the full formula on how we rank programs needs every state's data, so for now programs are ordered by pass rate alone. All sources are listed on data sources.
See Illinois's NCLEX pass rates by program type. See what it takes to get a nursing license in Illinois.