AP English Literature and Composition credit at Illinois colleges
Every Illinois college with a published AP English Literature and Composition credit policy — minimum score, credit hours, and the course it replaces.
Quick answer
75 of 88 Illinois colleges (85%) award credit for AP English Literature and Composition at a score of 3. 11 require a 4 and 2 require a 5. The lowest bar in the state is a 3 at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (3 credit hours). 88 of these colleges link to their own policy page below. Captured July 30, 2026.
| College | Min score | Credits | Counts as | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 3 | Rhetoric 1-- | Policy | |
| 3 | 3 | ENGL 101 | Policy | |
| 3 | 3 | Elective | Policy | |
| 3 | 3 | ENGL 103 | Policy | |
 College of Lake County Grayslake | 3 | 3 | ENG 199 | Policy |
 Joliet Junior College Joliet | 3 | 3 | ENG 204 | Policy |
 Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Edwardsville | 3 | 3 | ENG 111 | Policy |
 William Rainey Harper College Palatine | 3 | 3 | ENG 101 | Policy |
 Southern Illinois University-Carbondale Carbondale | 3 | 3 | ENGL 121 | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | LIT 201 | Policy | |
 Columbia College Chicago Chicago | 3 | 3 | LITR 101 Intro to Literature | Policy |
 Triton College River Grove | 3 | 6 | RHT 101 & ENG 105 | Policy |
 Waubonsee Community College Sugar Grove | 3 | 3 | ENG 101 | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | Eng Elec | Policy | |
ICC Illinois Central College East Peoria | 3 | 3 | ENGL 110 or LIT 110 | Policy |
 Eastern Illinois University Charleston | 3 | 3 | ENG 1009G | Policy |
 Rock Valley College Rockford | 3 | 3 | One of the following courses: LIT 142, 143 & 144 | Policy |
 McHenry County College Crystal Lake | 3 | 3 | ENG-151 | Policy |
 National Louis University Chicago | 3 | 9 | — | Policy |
 Aurora University Aurora | 3 | 4 | English Elective | Policy |
 Lincoln Land Community College Springfield | 3 | 3 | EGL 109 or 110 | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | ENGL 202 | Policy | |
 Bradley University Peoria | 3 | 3 | English 115 | Policy |
 Lewis University Romeoville | 3 | 3 | ENGL 22000 | Policy |
 Parkland College Champaign | 3 | — | ENG 115 | Policy |
 Saint Xavier University Chicago | 3 | 6 | ENGL 154-188 | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | ENGL 101 | Policy | |
| 3 | 3 | HUM 200 | Policy | |
| 3 | 3 | — | Policy | |
 Morton College Cicero | 3 | 3 | ENG 211 | Policy |
 Roosevelt University Chicago | 3 | 3 | ENG 101 | Policy |
 Governors State University University Park | 3 | 3 | H3-900 | Policy |
 Lake Land College Mattoon | 3 | 3 | LIT 130 | Policy |
 Olivet Nazarene University Bourbonnais | 3 | 6 | ENGL 109 & LIT 105 | Policy |
 Prairie State College Chicago Heights | 3 | — | ENG 240 | Policy |
 Black Hawk College Moline | 3 | — | Elective | Policy |
 John A Logan College Carterville | 3 | 3 | LIT 280 | Policy |
 South Suburban College South Holland | 3 | 3 | ENG 207 | Policy |
 Kankakee Community College Kankakee | 3 | 3 | Elective | Policy |
IVCC | 3 | 3 | ENG 1001 or ENG 0000 If a student receives a 3, 4, or 5 on both AP LANG/COMP and AP LIT/COMP, the student will get 6 course equivalency credits (for ENG 1001 and another elective credit) but will be required to take ENG 1002. | Policy |
 Kaskaskia College Centralia | 3 | 3 | ENGL 101 | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | LITR 1LR (QLR) | Policy | |
 Kishwaukee College Malta | 3 | 3 | HUM Elective | Policy |
 McKendree University Lebanon | 3 | 3 | English Literature Elective | Policy |
 Moody Bible Institute Chicago | 3 | 6 | Literature, Humanities, or Open Elective | Policy |
 Millikin University Decatur | 3 | 3 | EN120 | Policy |
 Chicago State University Chicago | 3 | 3 | ENG 1260 | Policy |
 Richland Community College Decatur | 3 | — | ENGL 115 | Policy |
| 3 | 6 | ENG 101 & ENG 111 | Policy | |
DACC Danville Area Community College Danville | 3 | 6 | — | Policy |
 Concordia University-Chicago River Forest | 3 | 3 | ENG 2000 | Policy |
 University of St Francis Joliet | 3 | 3 | ENGL 295 | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | ENGL 1101 | Policy | |
| 3 | 3 | ENG 160 | Policy | |
 Carl Sandburg College Galesburg | 3 | 6 | ENG 160 & 180 | Policy |
 Quincy University Quincy | 3 | 3 | ENG 112 | Policy |
 Knox College Galesburg | 3 | 1 | ENG 101 | Policy |
 Rockford University Rockford | 3 | 3 | ENGL 150 | Policy |
 Illinois College Jacksonville | 3 | 4 | EN elective | Policy |
 Greenville University Greenville | 3 | 3 | ENGL 105 | Policy |
 Trinity Christian College Palos Heights | 3 | 3 | English 103 | Policy |
JU Judson University Elgin | 3 | 3 | ENG101 | Policy |
 Spoon River College Canton | 3 | 3 | ENG101 | Policy |
 Monmouth College Monmouth | 3 | 4 | 100 level English elective credit | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | LIT 214 | Policy | |
 Southeastern Illinois College Harrisburg | 3 | 6 | ENG 121 & 122 | Policy |
| 3 | 3 | LIT 2171 | Policy | |
 Wabash Valley College Mount Carmel | 3 | 3 | LIT 2171 | Policy |
 Eureka College Eureka | 3 | 3 | ENG Elective | Policy |
 Lincoln Trail College Robinson | 3 | 3 | LIT 2171 | Policy |
 Principia College Elsah | 3 | 3 | ENGL XXX | Policy |
FCC Frontier Community College Fairfield | 3 | 3 | LIT 2171 | Policy |
TIUI | 3 | 3 | — | Policy |
 VanderCook College of Music Chicago | 3 | 3 | — | Policy |
 Trinity College of Nursing & Health Sciences Rock Island | 3 | 3 | English Comp. II | Policy |
 DePaul University Chicago | 4 | 4 | ENG 101 | Policy |
 Loyola University Chicago Chicago | 4 | 3 | UCLR 100 | Policy |
 Augustana College Rock Island | 4 | 4 | ENGL-elective | Policy |
NCC North Central College Naperville | 4 | 6 | ENGL 104 ENGL 106 | Policy |
 University of Illinois Springfield Springfield | 4 | 3 | ENG 102 | Policy |
 Dominican University River Forest | 4 | 3 | — | Policy |
 Wheaton College Wheaton | 4 | 4 | ENGL 115 | Policy |
 North Park University Chicago | 4 | 6 | WRIT 1050/ENG 1750 | Policy |
 Lake Forest College Lake Forest | 4 | 1.0 | ENGL 110 | Policy |
 Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington | 4 | 1 | ENGL 170, LIT | Policy |
| 4 | 3 | — | Policy | |
 Northwestern University Evanston | 5 | 2 | English 1LT | Policy |
 University of Chicago Chicago | 5 | 100 | — | Policy |
AP English Literature and Composition credit in other states
How we ranked this
One row per Illinois college: the lowest score that earns actual credit under the policy that applies to all students, and the largest credit award published at that score. Placement-only policies — permission to skip a course without earning credit hours — are excluded. Credit hours and course equivalents are reproduced exactly as the college published them; “—” means no value was published and we do not estimate one. A page is published for a state only when at least 8 colleges back it.
Frequently asked questions
Which Illinois colleges give credit for AP English Literature and Composition?+
88 colleges in Illinois publish a credit-bearing policy for AP English Literature and Composition. 75 of them (85%) award credit at a score of 3, 11 require a 4, and 2 require a 5. The full list, with credit hours and the course each exam replaces, is in the table on this page.
What is the lowest AP English Literature and Composition score that earns credit in Illinois?+
3. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Champaign awards credit at a score of 3, worth 3 credit hours, counting as Rhetoric 1--. 75 Illinois colleges in total set their bar at a 3 or lower.
Does in-state residency change AP credit in Illinois?+
No. AP credit policy is set per institution and applies to admitted students regardless of residency — residency affects tuition rate, not credit awards. What does vary is the school within a university: engineering and nursing colleges commonly set higher bars than arts and sciences. The rules shown here are the ones that apply to all students at each college.
How do I verify these Illinois AP credit policies?+
88 of the 88 colleges on this page link to their own published AP credit page in the Source column; our snapshot was taken July 30, 2026. The college's page is authoritative and can change between admission cycles, so confirm there before building a graduation plan around the credit.
Keep exploring
Data sources: Each college's own published AP / advanced-standing credit page (captured July 30, 2026) · IPEDS institution directory (names, control, location). Figures are the most recent values published in each federal dataset; cells with no published value are shown as “—” and never estimated. Education does not sell rankings or accept placement fees.