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2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

6 Ranked Colleges
392 Degrees Awarded
$17,600 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. One of our goals at College Factual is to give you as much information as we can - such as our “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking - to help you make that decision.

In 2019-2020, 33,568 people earned their degree in criminal justice, making the major the 32nd most popular in the United States.

Across Illinois, there were 561 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $0 and $0 respectively. At the bachelor’s degree level specifically, there were 392 criminal justice graduates with average earnings and debt of $38,319 and $24,183 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking looked at 6 colleges that offer degrees in a bachelor’s in criminal justice. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great criminal justice programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the criminal justice program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. Check out our ranking methodology for more information.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

We’ve created a tool called College Combat that lets you create your own customized comparisons based on the factors that matter the most to you. Test it out when you get a chance! You may also want to bookmark the link and share it with others who are trying to make the college decision.

Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 6 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice (Income $0-$30k) in Illinois

#1

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Illinois University landed the #1 spot on the list. WIU is a medium-sized public school situated in Macomb, Illinois. It awarded 291 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

WIU also made our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #1. It costs about $13,942 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Western Illinois University.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at WIU

#4 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. It ranked #2 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. SIUC is located in Carbondale, Illinois and, has a fairly large student population. In 2019-2020, this school awarded 2 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees to qualified students.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students whose families make $0-$30k list, SIUC has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend SIUC is $13,658 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at SIUC

#3

University of St Francis

Joliet, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of St Francis. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. This small school is located in Joliet, Illinois, and it awarded 14 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

University of Saint Francis did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend University of Saint Francis is $15,847 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students whose families make $0-$30k.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.3%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at University of St Francis

#4

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Out of the 6 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k that were part of this year’s ranking, Elmhurst University landed the #4 spot on the list. Elmhurst is a small school located in Elmhurst, Illinois that handed out 7 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

Elmhurst also made our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list, coming in at #3. It costs about $16,903 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend Elmhurst.

The student loan default rate at the school is 3.0%, which is quite low when compared to the national default rate of 10.1%.

Full Elmhurst University Criminal Justice Report

#5

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Bradley University. The school came in at #5 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k. Peoria, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s criminal justice degrees to 12 students in 2019-2020.

In addition to being on our illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students whose families make $0-$30k list, Bradley has also earned the #2 rank in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Bradley is $17,205 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students whose families make $0-$30k.

Students who start out at the school are likely to stick around. The freshman retention rate is 86%. The low student loan default rate of 2.5% is a good sign that students have an easier time paying off their loans than they might at other schools. For comparison, the national default rate is 10.1%.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at Bradley

#6

DeVry University - Illinois

Chicago, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

DeVry University - Illinois ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Chicago, Illinois, this large private for-profit school handed out 41 diplomas to qualified bachelors’s criminal justice students in 2019-2020.

DeVry University - Illinois did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #6 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend DeVry University - Illinois is $28,189 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students whose families make $0-$30k.

Read full report on Criminal Justice at DeVry University - Illinois

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Notes and References

References

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

  • *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
  • Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.

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