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2022 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in Illinois

7 Ranked Colleges
392 Degrees Awarded
$21,100 Avg Net Price*
Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor's in Illinois

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. Our mission at College Factual is to arm you with as much information as we can to help you make that decision. Our “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” ranking is one tool we have developed to help in this regard.

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” ranking analyzed 7 colleges that offered a degree 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.

To come up with these rankings, we looked at factors such as the cost to attend the school after aid is awarded and overall quality of the criminal justice program at the school. See our ranking methodology to learn more.

More Ways to Rank Criminal Justice Schools

Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we’ve developed a number of rankings, including this “Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois” list, to help you choose the best school for you.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois

The colleges and universities below are the best for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students.

Top 7 Best Value Bachelor’s Degree Colleges for Criminal Justice in Illinois

#1

Western Illinois University

Macomb, Illinois
#1 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Western Illinois University. The school came in at #1 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Macomb, Illinois is the setting for this medium-sized institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s criminal justice degrees to 291 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at WIU, the school also landed the #1 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The yearly cost to attend Western Illinois University is $16,210 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students.

Read more about Criminal Justice at Western Illinois University

#4 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Southern Illinois University Carbondale. The school came in at #2 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. Carbondale, Illinois is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The public school handed out bachelors’s criminal justice degrees to 2 students in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at SIUC, the school also landed the #4 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Southern Illinois University Carbondale is $16,945 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students.

Read more about Criminal Justice at SIUC

#3

DeVry University - Illinois

Chicago, Illinois
#6 in overall quality

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend DeVry University - Illinois. It ranked #3 on our 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. This large school is located in Chicago, Illinois, and it awarded 41 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

DeVry University - Illinois not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #6 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. The yearly cost to attend DeVry University - Illinois is $28,551 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students.

Full DeVry University - Illinois Criminal Justice Report

#4

University of Phoenix - Illinois

Schaumburg, Illinois
#7 in overall quality

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend University of Phoenix - Illinois. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois. UOPX - Illinois is a small school located in Schaumburg, Illinois that handed out 1 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

UOPX - Illinois did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #7 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list.

With a student-to-faculty ratio of to 1, it’s easy to see that the school is committed to helping their undergraduates succeed.

Read more about Criminal Justice at University of Phoenix - Illinois

#5

Bradley University

Peoria, Illinois
#2 in overall quality

Out of the 7 schools in the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois that were part of this year’s ranking, Bradley University landed the #5 spot on the list. 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.

Bradley did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” list. It costs about $25,634 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students per year to attend Bradley University.

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%. With a freshman retention rate of 86%, the school does an excellent job of retaining its students.

Full Bradley Criminal Justice Report

#6

University of St Francis

Joliet, Illinois
#5 in overall quality

With a ranking of #6, University of St Francis did quite well on the 2022 Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois list. University of St Francis is a small private not-for-profit school situated in Joliet, Illinois. It awarded 14 bachelors’s criminal justice degrees in 2019-2020.

As a testament to the quality of education offered at University of Saint Francis, the school also landed the #5 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. It costs about $17,538 for illinois bachelor’s degree criminal justice students per year to attend University of Saint Francis.

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 more about Criminal Justice at University of St Francis

#7

Elmhurst University

Elmhurst, Illinois
#3 in overall quality

Elmhurst University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Criminal Justice Schools for a Bachelor’s in Illinois ranking. Elmhurst, Illinois is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out bachelors’s criminal justice degrees to 7 students in 2019-2020.

Elmhurst also took the #3 spot in our “Best Criminal Justice Bachelor’s Degree Schools in Illinois” ranking. The estimated yearly cost for Elmhurst University is $21,485 for Illinois Bachelor’s Degree Criminal Justice students.

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%.

Read more about Criminal Justice at Elmhurst

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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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