North Cook News

Head coaches of Northwestern University women’s teams earn an average of $202,206 annually – the second highest average salary in the state – according to a North Coook News analysis of federal education data.

The analysis found that the university had the equivalent of 11.5 full-time head coaches on staff for its women’s teams. The school has the highest level of women head coaches’ pay within North Suburbs.

The U.S. Department of Education’s office of postsecondary education collects athletics data annually from all institutions with intercollegiate athletics programs that receive funding through federal financial aid programs. Data for 2016 – the latest year available – includes more than 2,000 schools nationwide.

A total of 96 universities and colleges in Illinois paid salaries to women’s head coaches in 2016.

What Illinois colleges pay women’s head coaches

Rank	School	Division	Total Undergraduates	Women's Team Average Annual Institutional Salary per FTE	Women's Team Number of FTEs Included in Average
1	DePaul University	NCAA Division I without football	13,126	$224,721	5.5
2	Northwestern University	NCAA Division I-FBS	8,249	$202,206	11.5
3	University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign	NCAA Division I-FBS	32,126	$181,452	9
4	Illinois State University	NCAA Division I-FCS	17,420	$96,034	8.5
5	Bradley University	NCAA Division I without football	4,278	$90,123	5.5
6	University of Illinois at Chicago	NCAA Division I without football	16,408	$89,102	7.5
7	Eastern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	5,117	$85,939	5.1
8	Northern Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FBS	12,323	$84,831	9
9	Loyola University Chicago	NCAA Division I without football	10,261	$83,713	5
10	Southern Illinois University-Carbondale	NCAA Division I-FCS	10,509	$82,114	6.11
11	University of Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	5,956	$75,849	5.50
12	Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville	NCAA Division I without football	9,883	$71,992	5.50
13	Western Illinois University	NCAA Division I-FCS	7,482	$70,664	5.69
14	Black Hawk College	NJCAA Division II	1,909	$69,477	0.56
15	Robert Morris University Illinois	NAIA Division II	2,253	$69,472	3.72
16	Kankakee Community College	NJCAA Division II	1,064	$64,466	0.70
17	Prairie State College	NJCAA Division II	1,400	$64,074	0.38
18	Wheaton College	NCAA Division III with football	2,400	$62,275	5.80
19	Lake Forest College	NCAA Division III with football	1,502	$60,775	4.40
20	Augustana College	NCAA Division III with football	2,514	$60,436	5.69
21	Aurora University	NCAA Division III with football	3,302	$59,039	6.49
22	Triton College	Other	3,107	$58,100	0.50
23	Illinois Central College	NJCAA Division II	3,082	$58,085	1.71
24	Lewis University	NCAA Division II without football	3,741	$55,814	6.50
25	Olivet Nazarene University	NAIA Division II	3,019	$55,060	4.34
26	Moody Bible Institute	NCCAA Division II	2,275	$54,998	0.40
27	Saint Xavier University	NAIA Division II	2,599	$54,505	4.75
28	Monmouth College	NCAA Division III with football	1,124	$52,943	5.55
29	Trinity Christian College	NAIA Division II	903	$52,845	2.50
30	North Park University	NCAA Division III with football	1,884	$52,770	6.00
31	College of DuPage	NJCAA Division III	6,335	$52,137	1.23
32	Roosevelt University	NAIA Division II	2,250	$51,861	4.65
33	John A Logan College	NJCAA Division I	1,899	$51,443	2.50
34	Illinois Wesleyan University	NCAA Division III with football	1,760	$51,435	6.50
35	Morton College	NJCAA Division II	1,253	$50,507	0.72
36	Governors State University	NAIA Division II	1,923	$50,000	1.5
37	McKendree University	NCAA Division II with football	1,820	$49,796	7.25
38	City Colleges of Chicago-Kennedy-King College	NJCAA Division I	1,570	$49,483	0.29
39	Millikin University	NCAA Division III with football	1,796	$49,448	6
40	City Colleges of Chicago-Harry S Truman College	NJCAA Division I	1,599	$48,696	0.23
41	Elmhurst College	NCAA Division III with football	2,682	$48,375	8.3
42	Illinois Institute of Technology	NCAA Division III without football	2,709	$48,301	4.75
43	Concordia University-Chicago	NCAA Division III with football	1,355	$47,851	6.25
44	North Central College	NCAA Division III with football	2,534	$47,461	5.25
45	Dominican University	NCAA Division III without football	2,101	$47,335	2.3
46	Trinity International University-Illinois	NAIA Division I	631	$46,268	2.8
47	University of St Francis	NAIA Division II	1,320	$46,215	4.06
48	Benedictine University	NCAA Division III with football	2,687	$46,155	7.75
49	Chicago State University	NCAA Division I without football	1,464	$45,724	4.56
50	Illinois College	NCAA Division III with football	949	$45,375	5.4
51	University of Illinois at Springfield	NCAA Division II without football	1,896	$45,146	5.25
52	Lewis and Clark Community College	NJCAA Division I	1,731	$42,568	3
53	Moraine Valley Community College	NJCAA Division II	6,186	$40,673	0.9
54	Wabash Valley College	NJCAA Division I	464	$40,115	1.6
55	Greenville College	NCAA Division III with football	913	$39,841	4.17
56	Danville Area Community College	NJCAA Division II	973	$39,000	0.5
57	Lincoln College	NJCAA Division III	727	$38,465	4
58	City Colleges of Chicago-Malcolm X College	NJCAA Division I	2,420	$38,196	0.72
59	Knox College	NCAA Division III with football	1,325	$37,715	5.75
60	Judson University	NAIA Division I	786	$37,569	6
61	Quincy University	NCAA Division II with football	1,035	$37,337	5.51
62	MacMurray College	NCAA Division III with football	531	$37,264	3.92
63	Olney Central College	NJCAA Division I	479	$37,105	1.33
64	Lincoln Trail College	NJCAA Division I	386	$36,525	2.24
65	Frontier Community College	NJCAA Division I	257	$36,326	0.81
66	Rockford University	NCAA Division III with football	909	$35,622	4.5
67	Lincoln Land Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,269	$35,145	1.19
68	Lake Land College	NJCAA Division I	2,261	$35,123	0.9
69	South Suburban College	NJCAA Division II	1,328	$34,884	1.72
70	Blackburn College	NCAA Division III without football	569	$34,716	4.5
71	Heartland Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,107	$33,448	0.66
72	Rock Valley College	NJCAA Division III	2,999	$33,333	0.96
73	Southeastern Illinois College	NJCAA Division I	457	$32,467	0.3
74	Highland Community College	NJCAA Division I	823	$32,178	0.63
75	Shawnee Community College	NJCAA Division I	739	$31,378	0.63
76	Parkland College	NJCAA Division II	2,978	$31,012	1.64
77	Spoon River College	NJCAA Division II	727	$30,303	0.33
78	Waubonsee Community College	NJCAA Division II	3,101	$30,241	1.84
79	William Rainey Harper College	NJCAA Division III	4,331	$29,731	1.18
80	Kaskaskia College	NJCAA Division I	1,233	$28,222	2.65
81	John Wood Community College	NJCAA Division II	965	$26,515	0.66
82	Rend Lake College	NJCAA Division I	1,135	$25,515	1.94
83	Southwestern Illinois College	NJCAA Division I	3,860	$25,444	1
84	Oakton Community College	NJCAA Division II	2,596	$25,324	2.04
85	City Colleges of Chicago-Olive-Harvey College	NJCAA Division II	781	$25,000	0.5
86	Eureka College	NCAA Division III with football	644	$24,489	2.58
87	Kishwaukee College	NJCAA Division II	1,570	$22,786	0.43
88	Sauk Valley Community College	NJCAA Division I	792	$22,590	1.11
89	City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College	NJCAA Division II	3,149	$22,000	0.5
90	Lincoln Christian University	NAIA Division II	357	$21,875	0.96
91	McHenry County College	NJCAA Division II	1,944	$21,673	1.21
92	College of Lake County	NJCAA Division II	3,808	$20,654	0.96
93	Carl Sandburg College	NJCAA Division II	929	$17,225	1.92
94	Joliet Junior College	NJCAA Division III	4,988	$17,189	2.27
95	Illinois Valley Community College	NJCAA Division II	1,256	$17,181	1.63
96	Elgin Community College	NJCAA Division III	3,008	$15,162	1.56

Source: U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education