2024 Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in Illinois

Ranked #30 in popularity, criminal justice & corrections is one of the most sought-after master's degree programs in the nation. This makes choosing the right school a hard decision.

College Factual reviewed 9 schools in Illinois to determine which ones were the best for master's degree seekers in the field of criminal justice & corrections. Combined, these schools handed out 178 master's degrees in criminal justice & corrections to qualified students.

Jump to one of the following sections: * Our Methodology

• Best Master’s Degree Schools List

Choosing a Great Criminal Justice & Corrections School for Your Master's Degree

Your choice of criminal justice & corrections for getting your master's degree school matters. Important measures of a quality criminal justice program can vary widely even among the top schools. When choosing a school we recommend considering some of the following factors:

Quality Overall Is Important

A school that excels in educating for a particular major and degree level must be a great school overall as well. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges for a Master's Degree ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.

Average Earnings

To determine the overall quality of a graduate school, one factor we look at is the average early-career salary of those receiving their master's degree from the school. This is because one of the main reasons people pursue their master's degree is to enable themselves to find better-paying positions.

Other Factors We Consider

In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:

• Major Focus - How many resources a school devotes to criminal justice & corrections students as compared to other majors.
• Major Demand - The number of criminal justice & corrections students who choose to seek a master's degree at the school.
• Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
• Student Debt - How much debt criminal justice & corrections students go into to obtain their master's degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
• Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized criminal justice & corrections related body.

Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best colleges for criminal justice & corrections students working on their master's degree.

One Size Does Not Fit All

The criminal justice school you choose to invest your time and money in matters. To help you make the decision that is right for you, we've developed a number of major-specific rankings, including this list of the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master's Degree Schools in Illinois.

Best Schools for Master’s Students to Study Criminal Justice & Corrections in Illinois

Below you'll see a list of the best colleges and universities for pursuing a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections.

10 Top Illinois Schools for a Master's in Criminal Justice

1

University of Chicago
Chicago, IL

23 Annual Graduates

$99,684 Median Starting Salary

It is hard to beat University of Chicago if you wish to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the large city of Chicago, UChicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.

Master's recipients from the criminal justice & corrections program at University of Chicago get $27,396 above the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Chicago

2

Lewis University
Romeoville, IL

48 Annual Graduates

Lewis University is one of the best schools in the United States for getting a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the large suburb of Romeoville, Lewis is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Lewis University

3

University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

11 Annual Graduates

Every student pursuing a degree in a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections has to look into University of Illinois at Chicago. UIC is a very large public university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from University of Illinois at Chicago

3

Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL

9 Annual Graduates

It is difficult to beat Loyola University Chicago if you wish to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the city of Chicago, Loyola Chicago is a private not-for-profit university with a fairly large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Loyola University Chicago

4

Illinois State University
Normal, IL

14 Annual Graduates

It's hard to beat Illinois State University if you want to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice & corrections. Located in the medium-sized suburb of Normal, Illinois State is a public university with a very large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Illinois State University

5

Western Illinois University
Macomb, IL

43 Annual Graduates

$44,893 Median Starting Salary

WIU is a medium-sized public university located in the remote town of Macomb.

Master's students who receive their degree from the criminal justice program make an average of $44,893 for their early career.

More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Western Illinois University

6

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL

2 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Edwardsville, SIUE is a public university with a large student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

7

Aurora University
Aurora, IL

8 Annual Graduates

Located in the large suburb of Aurora, Aurora is a private not-for-profit university with a moderately-sized student population.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Aurora University

8

Governors State University
University Park, IL

10 Annual Graduates

GSU is a small public university located in the rural area of University Park.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Governors State University

9

Chicago State University
Chicago, IL

5 Annual Graduates

CSU is a small public university located in the city of Chicago.More information about a master’s in criminal justice & corrections from Chicago State University

Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Great Lakes Region

Explore all the Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Colleges in the Great Lakes Area or other specific states within that region.

State	Colleges	Degrees Awarded
Michigan	211	77
Ohio	207	211
Indiana	191	101
Wisconsin	173	43

View All Rankings >

Rankings in Majors Related to Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice & Corrections is one of 4 different types of Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting programs to choose from.

Criminal Justice Focus Areas

Major	Annual Graduates
Criminal Justice Studies	67
Criminal Justice	51
Other Corrections & Criminal Justice	37
Securities Services Administration/Management	23

Majors Similar to Criminal Justice

Related Major	Annual Graduates
Homeland Security	114
Fire Protection	19
Security Science and Technology	7

Notes and References

• The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
• 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 the rest 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). More about our data sources and methodologies.