College Factual, a collegiate ranking site focused on using the best data available to help students make smart choices with their education and pocketbooks, recently ranked the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as the #4 Best College for Statistics majors for 2021. 

Part of the 2021 Best College for Statistics overall ranking includes being ranked #1 in the list of 2020 Most Popular Statistics Schools. This is based solely on the popularity of the Statistics degrees awarded. This takes into account for how many students graduate from the degree programs ranked through College Factual. The undergraduate program ranks #1 overall for degrees in the 2018-2019 academic year with 315 bachelor’s degrees in statistics awarded. Not to be outdone, the graduate programs ranked #7 for master’s degrees and #37 doctoral degrees in the most popular schools for statistics across the United States.

The number of degrees awarded are not the only measurement used to determine these rankings. College Factual look over 20 different factors to determine the best colleges for Statistics students. Some factors used to calculate these rankings include a higher median salary ranges and a lower student debt for graduates of the Statistics degree programs. Statistics majors have reported a median salary range of $57,200 in comparison to the national average of $50,000 for all statistics bachelor’s degrees awarded across the nation. With the median debt load of the average undergraduate student in statistics being $17,875, students from the University of Illinois Statistics program report a median debt load of a slightly lower $16,875.

As College Factual says, “It's difficult to beat University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign if you want to study statistics.”

College Factual dives a bit deeper with their program profiles to break down other deciding factors like gender and ethnic diversity of degree recipients. For example, of the 315 students who graduated with their Bachelor's in Statistics from the University of Illinois in 2019, 62% were male with 38% being female. This compared to the 77 graduates of the Masters in Statistics being 53% male and 47% female. 

Founded by Bill Phelan and Josh McWilliam, the mission of College Factual is to help every student get their best fit education for less. With backgrounds in scalable online publishing, online marketplaces, and behavioral sciences with access to big data and cost effective tools, their team launched College Factual to “disrupt higher education for the betterment of students, educators, and the world.”

For more information and other college and degree rankings, please visit CollegeFactual.com.